Love of Madness
by Keith B. Real
Summary: Three years after the horror at the south pole, Azula is going mad in an asylum while Sokka's star is rising in the Fire Nation, that is until a calamity brings a frayed Team Avatar back together for an adventure they are ill-prepared for. A sequel to Airship Down and the Mountains of Madness.
1. Prologue

**Prologue.**

"So," Zuko said, setting down a mug of steaming tea as a servant poured Sokka a cup of the same. Zuko waited for the server to leave muted room before speaking further. "I never did get the lowdown on what happened to you and my sister in the South Pole."

Sokka was in the Fire Lord's private chamber by appointment. The snowflakes that had landed on his head and shoulders during his walk were now tiny beads of water. In his short time as ambassador to the Fire Nation, he had learned Zuko was not prone to idle social visits and so he wondered what made him so curious about that old incident now, given everything else that was happening with the Fire Nation's colonies in the Earth Kingdom.

"Well, we heard about the airship being tested over the pole, so I decided I was going to blow it up, kinda pay you guys back for what happened to Aang in Ba Sing Se, only I told everybody I was just going to scout..."

Zuko waived his hand impatiently. "I know all that, I'm just wondering how you two survived with hardly any food and in the freezing cold. Azula's leg got banged up pretty bad, too."

"Yeah, it was broke pretty good," Sokka said, wondering what Azula had told her brother about the ordeal. "We stayed in the crashed ship for a few days, tended her wound, then loaded up on supplies. We got worried there might be a Deep Cold, that's when it gets so cold no amount of furs will save you, so we decided to make for some nearby mountains rather than try and wait for rescue."

"Because you thought it was warmer near the mountains," said Zuko, smiling.

"Yeah," said Sokka, remembering how Azula had dreamed about the mountain and was convinced there was fire of some kind under it. There had been heat, but no fire. Something else had been calling to her it turned out.

"So it was warm in the caves under the mountain," Sokka continued. "We lived off mushrooms for a while and followed the cave tunnels to the other side where I built a balloon, and the rest is history."

"Where did you find the stuff to build the balloon?" asked Zuko.

-Monkey feathers...- Sokka thought, adopting an Aang-ism. -What did Azula tell him?-

He would just have to hope it was not too much. Sokka had assumed Azula thought the same as he did on the matter, that what lived under the mountains of the South Pole was best left forgotten and ignored. Giving the journal he had found on the body of the dead explorer to scholars in the Northern Water Tribe had been a risk, but he thought he had done it in such a way that would not arouse any interest in the little book. He could have burned the thing, but that seemed foolish, and keeping the loathsome object with him was equally unbearable, so he sent it back to the homeland of its owner and prayed it would be forgotten.

"I used scrap from the airship. Built a sled for it, and somehow hauled it through the caves. I was afraid of building the balloon on the one side because I thought the wind would slam us into the mountain," he said. The lie was easy to keep straight, as it had been his original plan before finding the remains of the ancient expedition.

"Azula wasn't the same after she came back," Zuko said. "Most people think she snapped when she was about to become Fire Lord, and even people close to her think it was when she lost Mai and Ty Lee's support at the Boiling Rock where she tried to kill us, remember? But I noticed something was off with her when she first came back from the South Pole."

Sokka was nodding, furrowing his brow in what he hoped looked like interest and concern. "What was different about her?" he asked.

"The same thing I suspect was different about you," Zuko said, making gooseflesh on Sokka's neck. "Granted, I didn't know you so well at the time to notice, but I see it now. You have a tendency to stare off into space when you're not talking, like you're not here. Old soldiers who've seen a lot of action get it, I'm told. It's called a Thousand Yard Stare. Azula was always sharp, like a cat about to pounce even when she was bored or lost in thought, but this new look she'd get was different. What happened to you guys down there?"

Sokka took a few moments to collect himself, trying to think of when he had been staring at nothing like Zuko described. He wanted to groan. He had been a fool to think he had escaped that place under the mountain clean, as though his simple outlook on life had offered any real protection. He remembered being glib at the time, putting the horrible revelations of Hoplo's journal and all they had seen into context for Azula, whose mind had come closer to the horror than his and cracked.

"It was...really hard," Sokka finally said. "Everyone else on the airship died. It was so cold...we had to look hard for the food, and the mountain was farther away than it looked. We didn't think anyone who came to rescue us would even be able to find us...we really thought we were going to die. I mean, we were sure of it at one point, but we kept going through the motions because there was nothing else to do. Even when things were looking up, it was all long shots, you know?"

All of this was true, and even with the weirdness left out of his tale the ordeal had been a horror. He gripped his mug of tea to steady his hands and for the first time realized he had never truly talked to anyone about that time of cold and dark. Everyone seemed to think it was just another harrowing adventure, something Sokka was used to by then, and they assumed the worst part had been all that time alone with Azula.

They could never know how her face, being the only other human face within a thousand miles, had been like the rising sun. They could never understand how her voice, being the only voice, aside from his own to be heard for days upon days, had been a buffer against howling madness. No one would ever comprehend the life-giving force that had been her fist pounding on his back, urging him to crawl forward when his body had quit on him and left him to freeze and die in a snowy wasteland.

He could never explain this to anyone, least of all to people Azula had subsequently tried to kill. As for the rest of it, they were better off not knowing, and by now it was too late to tell them. He would be called a liar and a crazy person by those who did not know him, and a betrayer by those who did.

"I guess anybody would come back from that changed," said Zuko. "I always thought she was kind of untouchable; I've been trying to get to the bottom of what's wrong with her."

"How is she by the way?" Sokka asked. He had heard rumors of all sorts, the kind people told about tyrants no longer in power.

"This stays between you and me," Zuko said, leaning over his tea. "Aside from the weird staring, she would wake up in the middle of the night screaming about things that live under the ground. The healers had to give her sleeping potions. They still do. During the day she's normal, sort of, but sometimes she says weird things or talks like our mother is in the room. I'm kind of ashamed of this, but they have to keep her in a special jacket where the sleeves tie behind her back."

Zuko was the one to look away now and Sokka, thoroughly depressed, sought to end the conversation. "Maybe...I don't know, Zuko, I wish I had some advice."

"No, it's fine. I won't say she deserves what's happened to her, but a lot of it has been from choices she made. Say, listen, the real reason I had you come here was to ask a favor."

Sokka's eyebrow went up. Zuko was not a demanding man, but neither was he the sort to ask favors of just anybody. "Uh, sure. What is it?"

"I'll understand if you don't want to do it, but like I was saying Azula's in rough shape. Mentally, I mean. Physically she's stronger than ever, and dangerous."

Zuko was not looking at him, and Sokka was already familiar with Fire Lord Zuko's new royal habit of looking at people as though trying to beam a hole in their head with his gaze. "Okay, shoot," Sokka said.

"I was thinking maybe you could go see her? Just, I don't know, say hi or something. She has no friends, is convinced everyone around her is out to get her, and she's getting worse. I asked Mai to go but she refused and told me Ty Lee would be the same way. I don't think Azula wants to see them, anyway."

-And she'll want to see me?- he almost asked, but instead nodded and looked concerned. His chest had become tight and he felt like he had been sighted by a saber-toothed moose lion. His hands would not stop shaking, so he set his mug down. "I guess," he said, feeling his cheek and neck burn.

"Thanks, Sokka. I won't forget this."

-888-

The asylum was a stone fortress not far from the sea. It was heavily guarded both from without and within and Sokka felt oddly relieved to see some people walking about the grounds and halls wearing robes and tunics rather than armor. These people were healers, according to a tall, thin woman who insisted on being called Chief Healer Bin. She was head of the asylum and received Sokka with disdainful interest, making constant references to "tribals" and tribal behaviors she found fascinating.

"I've only met one waterbender in my time here," Bin said, leading Sokka down a long hallway lined with tapestries. It was dryer and smelled much nicer than the other parts of the facility. "She was an old woman. Quite mad, actually. She'd learned to bend blood if you can believe it."

Sokka decided he had enough problems without wondering what had become of the bloodbender and so he did not ask. He also did not wish to hear Bin speak if he did not have to. "Aside from Fire Lord Zuko, Princess Azula gets no visitors," said Bin. "I've been led to believe you played a key role in some traumatic event the princess experienced, yes?"

"Yep, that's me," Sokka said.

"I must say I was against you seeing her as you're far more apt to trigger an episode rather than sooth her fevered mind, but it is the Fire Lord's will."

"Yeah, that's great," Sokka said. "Zuko, er, the Fire Lord mentioned she sometimes screams about things that live under the ground? What's that about?"

"Well, from what we've pieced together, after the airship incident she spent some time in a cave system beneath the ground...with you. Take the trauma of that entire incident and throw in a strange, er, person, who likely has different mannerism and customs than what she's used to, and you get rants about 'the crawling chaos' and the 'movers underground.'"

"Ah. My fault, then. Gotchya," said Sokka, thinking he would not mind taking this woman on a tour of the place he and Azula had been.

They came to Azula's cell, which was dark save for some light near the ceiling, reflected in through mirrors. The walls were stone, and the bed she had was piled high with flame-resistant leathers rather than cotton or straw. Azula herself was the last thing he noticed, for she seemed quite small sitting cross-legged on the floor in a white coat fitted with straps and with long sleeves that tied around her back. "Princess, you have a visitor," said Bin.

"Zuzu, back so soon?" Azula said, her voice sharp and cruel.

"Hi, Azula," said Sokka.

There was a long moment of silence, then Azula turned just enough to fix one amber eye on Sokka, as though she were afraid of what she might see. Her eye flickered between him and Bin, and he could see she was trembling. "Can, uh, you give us a minute?" asked Sokka. "Fire Lord's orders," he added after she scowled.

"Be sure to scream if she breathes fire onto you," said Bin, curtly. "I'll be nearby."

"You," she said when Bin was gone. "Have you come to silence me?"

"No," Sokka said. "Zuko said you were having a rough time and he thought seeing me might help. If he was wrong, say so and I'll go."

She stood and let her hair fall away from her sunken eyes like curtains. Her bare feet made soft padding sounds on the stone while the manacles she wore rattled and clinked. Her hair, once beetle black and shining, was bedraggled and hung in front of her face. She came to the bars and he paid special attention to her shallow breathing, for any deep intake of breath would herald a fire attack.

"Are you real?" she asked.

He tapped the bars with his hand above her head, stopping short of touching her. "Yeah. I didn't tell anyone about what happened under the mountain. I should have, I'm sorry. I'll tell Zuko when I leave and something can get done about all this. I mean, you're nuts, but not nuts like they think you are..." his voice trailed off as her face twisted into a scowl.

"Keep your mouth shut," she hissed. "The worst thing that can happen is if people found out about Them."

"What do you mean?"

"Fool, haven't you been dreaming?"

"No. I mean, yeah, but not about any of that stuff. Not lately."

"Of course, your mind is denser, mine is more advanced, closer to their level. That's why they've singled me out above all others for destruction."

"You're thousands of miles away from them," he said. "Anything you've got bothering you is just thoughts you carried over. They can't hurt you or anybody else."

She cackled and staggered back from him, making his body tense and prepare to dodge a jet of flames but none came. "You fool! You complete, utter fool!" she nearly shrieked. "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu lies dreaming! Do you know what that means!?"

He shook his head, and repeated the words she had spoken, knowing her encounter with one of the monsters at the South Pole had left her knowing things she should not. She staggered back to the bars, hunched over like a cripple. Despite the sallow, sunken face she sported not all of her beauty had departed her and it stirred pity in his heart.

"Neither do I," she said, her face collapsing and eyes growing watery. "I hear it when I sleep. I thought it was coming up from the ground, but it's not, it's coming up from the sea, over the waves. I can hear it at night. Tell me you can hear it, too, Sokka, tell me it's not just me."

She sunk to her knees, and Sokka regretted coming here. He knelt, too, wary of her. "You said it's better no one knows. Why?" he asked.

"Because people would go looking," she said. "I know how people are, I know. People would go looking and things would be stirred up, more than they've been stirred already, by us. Those dabbling dead fools we found, those were the beginning, but none made it back alive and so they did not get curious. Now they're curious, Sokka, and as much as I'd like to see the world pay for what's it's done to me...I just want Them to forget about me and leave me alone."

She had called him by his name more times than ever before, he noted. "Okay, I'll keep quiet," he said. "But I can't leave you like this."

Azula picked her head up slowly to look up at him. She laughed, then got to her feet. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Like I told you, dead Cthulhu waits and he'll either stop calling to me or he'll rise up from the sea and call to everyone! One way or another, my suffering ends. It was good to see you again, Water Tribe boy, now away with you before I set you ablaze."

He cocked his head to the side and stood his ground, not wanting to leave without further explanation, given that he knew what she was saying was not entirely madness. The words did not come, however, and he left her with her back turned to him in her gloomy cell.

"Well, were you able to cure her?" asked Bin who had been standing in the hall outside. She was looking down her nose at him with a sour smirk on her lips.

"I don't think she likes being so close to the sea," Sokka said, doubting anything he said was registering. He walked ahead of Bin, who he could feel smirking at his back, and showed himself out.

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 1: Great Wave

**Chapter I.**

**Great Wave**

Sokka was being watched intently by a pair of dark amber eyes set into a pretty face. He took a bite of his scrambled turtle duck eggs and made a show of savoring the taste, for the amber eyes that watched him would be eager to see how much he enjoyed his breakfast.

She was young and as was the fashion amongst young Fire Nation noblewomen wore makeup that brightened her red lips and darkened the area around her eyes, highlighting their deep amber color. Her face had the promise of a terrible beauty if ever angered, but the girl was rarely upset in that way. It was a strange thing to look upon for Sokka, for he knew a face eerily like it that had often been angry, or worse, and that had both stopped his blood and made his chest tight.

"Is everything alright?" the girl asked, sensing his discomfort. Like the girl she bore a strong resemblance to she had a knack for reading people.

"Delicious as usual," Sokka said, swallowing his eggs. "I was just wondering what I was going to do today."

Suzi's face brightened, banishing completely her uncanny resemblance to Princess Azula. "Will you be going to the capital?" she asked.

"Ugh. Not if I can help it. I see entirely too much of that place as it is," Sokka said.

He would not mind sitting around the villa all day, actually. It was owned by Suzi's mother, a Fire Nation noblewoman, who had taken him in as a tenant and charged him a lower rate than that of the hotels and resorts that made of much of the Harbor City. Sokka suspected her real payment was the gossip value of having the Avatar's spokesman and ambassador from Southern Water Tribe living in her home.

"What will you do with yourself all day, then?" Suzi asked. "You've been working so hard all the time, a young man like you should get out and enjoy himself for a change."

"I think I'll head on down to the market, actually. I haven't been shopping in a while."

Suzi leaned forward, her face beaming in anticipation of being asked along. Sokka kept his face blank, noting how she was different from Azula. Her ears were a tad larger, he supposed. Her chin had the barest hint of a dimple. She was a few years younger, and preferred to wear her hair bun farther back, bear the base of her skull. She shunned bangs.

He did not remember inviting her along, yet beside him she was as they went to the fish market. The sky was cloudless and blue, speckled only by airships and pleasure balloons. Sokka smiled wryly upon seeing them, never sure if he deserved credit or blame for them being up there, remembering a time not long ago when flying machines had inspired only terror and brought only death.

The main market was on the upper part of the island. Normally crowded, today it seemed people had other places to be. Most seemed content to look and not buy, which put the vendors in a mood Sokka liked. While the size of the crowd was unusual, their reaction to him was not. Sokka had grown used to the looks he got from the people of the Fire Nation. He was dressed in a blue tunic and proudly wore his hair in the style of a Water Tribe warrior making him an odd sight to behold for the formerly isolated population. The fish market Sokka wished to visit was down a sandy hill by the sea and he and Suzi could smell it long before they reached it.

Sokka tensed each time Suzi's arm brushed against his. Once they were in the fish market, the throngs of bodies and rows of stalls made physical contact with her impossible to avoid. While looking at a particularly juicy fish as its vendor talked prices with another customer, Sokka glanced at Suzi and saw her smile. He hoped the one he returned did not look too much like a wince. He would have to let her down sometime, but it was too nice a day for that.

It had not been a good year for love. The only couple Sokka knew of that had not suffered a split was Aang and Katara, and while he approved of the pair he found them cringe-worthy when they publicly displayed their affection. He hated their pet name for each other, "Sweetie." He scowled thinking about it.

The splitting up of Fire Lord Zuko and Mai was still being talked about in all the Fire Nation social circles, both high and low. All seemed to agree it had been her idea to end it, but no one knew why. Rumors swirled and Sokka had no greater grip on the truth than anyone else.

As for him and Suki, it was too baffling for him to think clearly about. It was a like a broken step his mind had learned to skip as it went up and down.

"Sokka, that fire flake vendor I was telling you about is down by the beach," said Suzi, rejoining him. He had not noticed her get separated in the throng and it seemed he had taken little note of having bought a juicy-looking fish he had been eying.

"The one that's supposedly so spicy no one can finish an entire bag?" Sokka asked as he was being led through the crowd.

"Yeah! You said you thought you could do it. I think you win free fire flakes for a month if you can."

Sokka did not feel he was up for such a challenge at the moment, but he did want to see just how hot these flakes were. Before long he was at the beach with Suzi at the fire flake vendor, who had set up his cart on the sand just above the high tide line. The beach was packed as the day was hot. Volleyball games, sand castles, and umbrellas dotted the yellow bar of sand between swimmers in red or white bathing suits.

The fire flake vendor was a large, sweaty man with swollen lips and dark stubble for a beard. His black hair was greasy and he was clearly leering at the girls in their bathing outfits, but his eyes, while watery, were kind and his expression friendly.

"Are you the guy with super hot fire flakes?" asked Sokka.

The vendor's thick lips parted into a grin showing his surprisingly white teeth. "Are you up for Fuki's Flaming Fire Flake Challenge?" he asked.

"Uh...actually I just wanted to see how hot they were," Sokka said.

Fuki laughed and his wide belly shook. "Ah, don't want to embarrass yourself in front of your girlfriend, I understand."

"She's not my girlfriend," Sokka said, more quickly than intended.

"I meant the fish, son," Fuki said, laughing. Suzi was bubbling with laughter too, making herself even less like Azula. "Sure, you can sample a scoop, but only if you buy the lady a bag of the regular sort. She likes fire flakes, right?"

Suzi did indeed like fire flakes, and once a bag was secured, Sokka was given a napkin with a small pile of the super spicy flakes, which he ate promptly.

Too promptly.

Sokka handed the fish to Suzi as Fuki's laughter boiled out of him. Tears streamed from Sokka's eyes; it was as though the flakes had crawled into the back of his nose through his throat and melted hid soft tissue. He was coughing and about to vomit on the sand when he was tapped on the back and presented with a clay mug of water. After three mugs he saw Suzi was the one giving them to him at Fuki's behest and amusement.

"They're spicy, alright," said Sokka when he was able to speak again. The smell of the sea and fish market was less potent to him now.

"I'd offer you the full challenge, but I think I'd be arrested for poisoning," said Fuki following his words with more loud laughter.

Sokka thought Fuki should be at least fined, but he laughed along with the man and decided he liked him.

"Come on, Sokka, let's take a quick walk down the beach to clear your head," said Suzi, taking him by the arm.

-A walk on the beach to clear my head, you're a sly one, Suzi,- Sokka thought as they went along above the wet sand, weaving between swimmers going to and from the waves. There were ball games being played, sand fortresses being built, and groups of children racing the waves. Woven in with the hundreds of voices and lapping of the sea was a strange, beautiful melody being played by a tall man with a graying beard who held a black violin. He caught Sokka's attention, for he seemed out of place amid the throngs of beach revelers, but few people paid him any mind. He held Sokka in a trance until the sound of his music faded as they passed him by.

The walk was not as brief as she had advertised and Sokka began to worry for his fish as they neared the end of the beach where a line of bungalows had been built. Sokka took the lead towards a road that would take them back to the fish market, but something caught his attention and they stopped.

The tide had gone out.

-Way out,- Sokka thought, looking back to see others on the beach had also noticed the receded water.

For perhaps half a mile all there could be seen was a flat expanse of mud, coral, and rock. The ground sloped downward gently before ending in rolling foam. The mud was alive with living things, but his fascination with the phenomenon was distracted by the murmurs rolling among the beach goers. "That's weird. Does the beach do this a lot?" he asked, turning to Suzi whose face had gone white.

A high pitched whine began rising in her throat but was soon drowned out by someone shouting "Tsunami!"

The air filled with a chorus of human cries and screams. All down the beach, bells that had been hung from high, white scaffolds were being rung as hard as they could be rung, prompting all the bodies on the beach to surge away from the water, which Sokka could now see was advancing again.

Suzi grabbed his arm and ran. He was faster, but he kept his pace with hers and looked over his shoulder to see the people's panic was well-founded. Coming towards them, covering ground faster than anyone could run was a growing wall of muddy water.

The bells were still ringing and Sokka felt a pang for the doomed men and women inside the towers. Once he thought they had been built to spot drowning swimmers, but later learned they were to soothe the Fire Nation's pathological fear that the earthbenders of the Earth Kingdom, whom they had fought for so long, could cause earthquakes beneath the sea and summon huge, killing waves to batter the coastlines of the Fire Nation archipelago. The towers were a relic, the people in them likely younger than him.

The crowd reached the fish market when the wave caught them. It carried with it tons upon tons of sand, silt, and rock. It swept away the fish stalls and bungalows like an angry Pai Sho player clearing a game board. There were a few firebenders who sent feeble flames into the wave, but they were as impotent to stop it as he was. He grabbed hold of Suzi, making her cry out, and the wave hit them.

Sokka knew a thing or two about drowning. Growing up in the Southern Water Tribe, a young warrior could expect to be nearly killed by water at least three times. The first was before he held the proper respect for the sea, and was forced to understand it. The second was when he foolishly thought he had learned true respect, and again tempted the waves. The third came years later, as if the water were reminding the warrior of his temporary place in the world.

Such a belief was nonsense, Sokka knew. Plenty of warriors never came close to drowning, and he himself had nearly done it far more than three times. The sea was not a thing that held a grudge, but as he was shoved along by a force stronger than any he knew along with buildings, boulders, and people, he could not help but thing the sea was angry with him over something.

All these thoughts flashed by in an instant, his body and mind occupied in reaching for any piece of debris that he could take hold of and cling to to avoid being drowned or crushed. He went under countless times, but managed to come back up without broken bones or a pulped skull. Perhaps the water had come just to punish him for living in the Fire Nation too long, away from his tribe.

Somehow he had managed to hang on to Suzi, and she him. She was lying next to him, coughing up water when he woke up on his back in the middle of a damp, mud caked field nearly a mile from the beach where they had been. He barely recognized the area, as it was now nothing but piles of mud and broken wood.

"Sokka," Suzi said, coming over to him. "Sokka, look."

The only people near them were those who had been swept up in the wave, and all were covered in mud. They all stumbled about, their minds busy adjusting to the new world. When they could move with purpose, it was to begin pulling at arms and legs sticking out of the mud.

Sokka and Suzi used each other to get to their feet, and not knowing what else to do they moved about the mud, sticks, and rocks. Sokka urged her away from the hands and feet that did not move, and to the ones that did.

"It's coming back!" a woman shrieked. This time there were no bells only muted shouts, which the terror downed out as easily as any alarm.

The wave came towards them, but they were able to get back far enough to elude it. Sokka was one of the first to run after the wave as it retreated and pull at living bodies the water had freed. He shouted at Suzi to return home but she did not obey, and when the wave returned a third time soldiers had come from inland.

It was dark by the time Sokka and Suzi returned to the villa to be greeted by her hysterical mother.

-888-

A week had gone by since the tsunami, and while the sea was back to normal the people it touched were not.

At first, all thought the tsunami had been a freak disaster, even though a few muttered that the Earth Kingdom was responsible. Sokka helped coordinate cleanup efforts and it was his idea to bring the lost, injured, and the dead to separate areas where their loved ones could claim them. Their wails, their tears, and even their cries of joy followed him home where he wished for nothing more than a dreamless oblivion to see him through to the morning.

Fire Lord Zuko had come to the disaster area dressed for action in a simple soldier's uniform. His face was a grim stone when calling out orders and hearing reports, but Sokka saw him tell no less than a dozen people the fate of their loved ones. Their cries had not fallen on a cold heart, and Sokka was proud to be serving the Fire Lord and his people.

Among reasonable people it was assumed a natural earthquake had caused the tsunami. Nature could be cruel and uncaring, Sokka thought, but there was no use in bearing it a grudge for it felt nothing. For him, it was easier to make peace with it that way and he was well on his way to doing so when an airship arrived bearing strange news.

Sokka was one of many called to the Fire Lord's war room after the devastation the tsunami had wrought had been reduced to simple cleanup work. At the center of the room was a long table where large maps could be rolled out. The one out now showed the Fire Nation islands and the sea to the east of it.

The map had been marked with the location of an island the airship had spotted, one no one had seen before. The airship's captain said it was of an average size for the easternmost fingers of the archipelago, but being a seafaring people, it was unlikely it had gone unmapped for so long. Furthermore, it was rocky and slick. Silty with no vegetation. The captain said he flew as close as he dared, but something about it made him fly onward.

It was not good news, for islands did not suddenly spring up from the sea without the aid of a volcano, for which there was no evidence of in that area. Sokka knew what some of the generals were whispering. "Earthbenders," they said, these men who professed to have hated Fire Lord Ozai's rule but no doubt longed for it to return. None of those men sat at this table, and save for a few gaps the gathering had the air of a reunion. Sokka only wished the circumstances were happier.

"We have to get to the bottom of this," said Zuko, sitting at the head of the map table. "We have to get out to that island and find out why it suddenly rose out of the sea."

Bad weather had followed the airship captain's news of the island. It was his most practical reason for not stopping to explore it. Only the mightiest ships were out sailing and all airships were grounded. A messenger hawk had been sent to where Avatar Aang would likely receive it, but he was not expected for some time yet.

"You're the Fire Lord, order some men onto a boat and go," said Mai, who sat the far end of the table. Her presence added a tension to the air Sokka doubted was good, but Zuko had summoned her saying her help would be invaluable.

"I was hoping I could get some support," Zuko said, his words coming through clenched teeth. "I don't know what we'll find when we get there, and the people at this table are the only ones I can trust with this."

Sokka, who sat at Zuko's left across from Iroh, looked down the table to feed his sense of nostalgia. Next to Iroh was Piandao, and next to him Suki who was flanked by Ty Lee in her Kyoshi Warrior armor and face paint. Toph sat next to Sokka, and he could almost believe it was just like the days right after the end of the war when they were all together and no anger flowed between anyone.

"You have support, your Fire Lordy-ness," Sokka said. "It's just that we think having Aang and my sister along would be a really, really good idea given all the water that's likely to be involved."

"This talk of earthbenders being responsible is growing," said Zuko. "If this goes on any longer, some people might get ideas"

Mai rolled her eyes, but none at the table thought Zuko worried over the throne for his own sake. All knew that if there were to be a coup it would mean another war, and if it looked like the Earth Kingdom had caused the tsunami then a war might come to pass.

"And if we go and learn nothing, what then?" asked Piandao. "People are not as hungry for war as you might suspect, my lord. The worst you may have to face is an Agni Kai."

"Don't be so sure," said Iroh, his eyes squinting like they did when he played Pai Sho. "While I agree that we should wait for the Avatar, people's fears need to be calmed. Perhaps you could assign those you don't trust to assist with the clean-up work?"

"Send the traitors to the island!" shouted Toph. No one responded and she crossed her arms in a huff.

"How about we announce we're taking a trip to the creepy island, only we take a really long time to get ready. By the time we're done, Aang should be here and we'll be ready to go," said Sokka.

"That might work, actually," said Zuko. "I'll have a ship prepared, slowly. We won't make an official announcement, but we'll let the rumor mill get the word out something is being done. That will buy us more time. Worst case scenario, we have Aang meet us there meanwhile we ask the world's greatest earthbender if she thinks bending was involved."

"I keep telling you guys it would take two dozen earthbenders as powerful as me and King Bumi to raise an island like that from the sea floor," said Toph.

Before Zuko could respond, an old woman coughed loudly by the door. She stood like an old tree stump, looking bored. "I present the Avatar, and his..." her head turned and she whispered something to someone on the other side of the door. "Girlfriend." she said, dissatisfied.

All decorum vanished when Aang and Katara entered the room and Sokka's heart was made to feel light again. For a moment it was truly like the old days. It did not last, as the details of the tsunami's devastation and the business about the island had to be related.

"The island and the tsunami have to be connected," said Aang.

"That's obvious. The problem is we need it to be a natural phenomenon, which you can help explain to people," Zuko said.

"That's assuming it was natural," said Mai, darkly.

"Hey! You Fire Nation types are awfully paranoid about earthbenders, you know?" shouted Toph.

"Easy, easy," said Sokka. "I doubt it was earthbenders, come on."

"It doesn't matter if it was or not," said Mai. "If it was, the Fire Lord is going to tell everyone it wasn't to avoid a war. Lies and secrets, right?"

Zuko scowled and the empty silence seemed to suck what little good cheer there was in the room like a bitter cold. "I think if that's how you feel, Mai, then maybe you should leave," he said.

She did just that, and Sokka tried to catch Suki's eye as she left also, but she would not look at him. "Okay, then," Sokka said. "We've got a plan, everyone we need is here, let's do it. Agreed?" He looked to Zuko, who nodded and dismissed them all. When they were free to socialize, Piandao and Iroh wandered off, as did Ty Lee, while Zuko hung back near a pillar and watched the former Team Avatar mingle.

Aang and Katara told of their travels to the different air temples and cities. Aang said he had nearly become bogged down in people's troubles, but Katara had taught him to prioritize and save his energies for big problems, like the one the Fire Nation was facing now.

Sokka was happy to see them together, like a warm fire in the distance. If they called each other "sweetie," he did not notice.

Zuko offered Aang and Katara a room in the palace, but they declined. Katara said she wanted to be close to the sea while Aang said it would boost morale for people to see him. Zuko was disappointed, but he made sure their room was in a nice hotel. The sky was a bright purple when they all left the war room and into a large, open air hallway.

"Hey, Sokka, can I have a word with you?" Zuko asked as the group headed off.

"Of course, sire," said Sokka, unsure if he had used the correct honorific. "I'll catch up," he called to his friends.

"You can call me Zuko when we're like this."

Sokka nodded, remembering how alone the Fire Lord really was. "Zuko, what can I do for ya?"

"I wanted to thank you for your help with the tsunami. I know you grew up hating the Fire Nation, with good reason."

"Eh," Sokka said, remembering how they had all been united in mud and mortality by the un-living wave. It had reminded him of another time when his world consisted only of living people and death.

Zuko grinned and clapped Sokka on the arm. "That's what I'm talking about. Good old Sokka. So, getting to the point, I think this ambassador gig is beneath your ability. I'd like to promote you. How would like to be my right-hand man?"

"You mean like a vice-Fire Lord?"

"No, no, no," he said. "I want you to be my chief adviser. Uncle will go back to his tea shop in Ba Sing Se after this, and as much as I hate to even think about this, he won't be around forever. I need a smart guy with a level head, and to be really honest...no political ambitions."

Sokka knew better than to take offense. "Political ambitions" meaning "kill the Fire Lord in his sleep and take the throne." He understood Zuko's needs.

"Um, yeah," said Sokka. "I don't see why not. My ideas will still be your fault if they go wrong, right?"

"No, I've appointed a Royal Scapegoat for that," said Zuko. His face was stern, then he smiled and awkwardly punched Sokka in the arm. "Glad to have you at my side. Maybe you can give me some advice on how to handle crazy women."

"They're all crazy," said Sokka, seeing Suki move out of sight with the others, and spying Toph who had hung back behind a pillar to wait for him.

"Some are crazier than others. A lot crazier," said Zuko, his good humor taking a downward turn. He and Sokka exchanged a look, both their minds on Azula. While the others had little sympathy for her, Sokka and Zuko rarely laughed or made a joke about her.

Sokka extended his hand to seal the deal of his promotion to adviser, and Zuko took it. His arm felt hot, adding evidence to a theory Sokka held that all firebenders were inherently warmer than the rest of mankind, at least physically.

"I'm going to get some rest," Zuko said. "I haven't been sleeping well. Good night."

"Good night, Fire Lord, er, buddy. Buddy Lord?"

Zuko shook his head and disappeared into the palace, while Sokka went to meet Toph. "I heard everything," she said. "Congratulations on the promotion."

"Thanks. Hard to believe, though. I used to hate the Fire Nation, now I'm adviser to the Fire Lord."

"Don't screw it up," said Toph. "Zuko is going to need all the help he can get to keep from getting into another war."

"Come on, you've got to have a little more faith in him than that," said Sokka as they walked. His eyes were forward and keen to see Suki, but it appeared as though the others all had a long head start.

"I like Zuko and all, but I don't think he's got the temper for this. Mai kept him in line, but he screwed that up somehow so who knows what'll happen now."

"Well, he did call us all together to try and deal with this," Sokka said. "I think he knows he's not supposed to go it alone."

"Whatever you say," said Toph. "I don't know what he thinks we're going to find on that stupid island."

"We have to look," said Sokka. "People are freaked out. Maybe it'll be like old times again, but I doubt it."

"I know what you mean, it's not the same anymore," she said. "Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen are like the same person now, Suki isn't talking to you. It's a mess."

"Tell me about it," Sokka said. "I could really use some of the old vibe back. That tsunami was awful. Say, you haven't talked to Suki have you? We were goin' great there for a while then the letters got shorter then they stopped completely. I don't know what happened."

Toph let out a long, loud breath and stopped at the bottom of a long set of stairs they had descended. "All I know is that she said something about you having plenty of girlfriends where you live in the Fire Nation."

"What!? I haven't had any girlfriends!" shouted Sokka, covering his mouth when he heard his voice echo off the stone walls of the outer palace. "Where'd she get that idea?"

He saw Toph's cheeks turn red and figured she probably hated talking about this sort of thing. He had not been blind to her affection towards him in years past. "I don't know what made her think that, okay? I don't spend a lot of time with her, or with you. I run my metal bending school and that's it, alright?"

"Alright, alright," he said. "I'm not trying to draw you into anything I'm just asking. It's not like she'll let me talk to her."

"Word is you're sweet on a dark-haired girl in the Harbor District."

"Harbor City, and I'm not sweet on her," Sokka said. "I couldn't be. She's too...young."

A memory had shot through him like a lighting bolt, triggered by the thought of Suzi's face. Him and Azula at the South Pole. They had escaped the nightmare and her parting gift to him had been a kiss on his cheek with chapped lips, followed by a vicious cut to his neck with her fingernails. He touched the scar it had left, finding it faded.

"Yeah, yeah, you boys are all the same," Toph said, walking again. "Look, that's all I know. Maybe things will blow over now that you're both here. Let's find everyone at the resort or whatever and we'll party while we still can."

"Party. Sounds good," said Sokka, thinking this party would be the sort where he left early.

**To be continued.**


	3. Chapter 2: Times of Madness

**Chapter II**

**Times of Madness **

The resort had stocked their suite with the worst sort of fire wine, the kind that went down like water.

None of them were heavy drinkers and the wine went straight to their heads. Toph insisted on wrestling Aang in the middle of the room, and he lost badly while Katara giggled at the sight. Nearby, Ty Lee was trying to sober herself by hitting her own chakra points, her failure a great source of amusement for Mai and another Kyoshi Warrior who had hit it off with everyone.

All were oblivious to the argument taking place in the kitchen.

"What made you think I had other girlfriends?" asked Sokka, holding a bottle of fire wine in one hand and gesturing wildly with the other. "Do you think I'm that kind of guy?"

Suki's arms were folded across her chest, and while her face was nearing the same shade of red as the tunic she wore she watched the wine bottle in Sokka's hand as though considering what it might look like broken over his head.

"I don't know what kind of guy you are anymore. You spend all your time here in the Fire Nation and word gets around.

"Well then you don't know anything then," Sokka said, taking a pull from the bottle. "You just quit writing me letters, never came to visit. I'm an important guy here, you know now."

She snorted. "I guess you are," she said. "I quit writing you letters when I stopped getting yours. Hard to believe such an important guy can't get his mail sent. Maybe that girl you live with distracted you, I don't know. I don't much care anymore, either."

"What do you mean you don't care!?" Sokka said, catching the notice of the others, even those who had been on their way to nodding off. "What do you mean you don't care? How can you not care? We had something, Suki, how can you say you don't care?"

He laid his hand on her shoulder and leaned into her, tempting a hard shove but all he got was her turning her cheek. "Sokka, stop it. We had something, now we don't. Don't make it awkward."

"Make it, wha?" he was far too drunk to be having this conversation, this he knew somewhere deep down. How much wine had he drank? This felt like his second bottle, but there were more in the kitchen with him. "No, no, no. This, come on. How can you say these things? What happened, Suki? These people...these people are just, you couldn't even."

He wanted to explain to her how rumors fueled this town like a national pastime but the words would not form.

"Sokka, please..." she said, pushing him back. "Put the bottle down, you've had enough."

He finished the bottle and felt something in him tip. -Aaand there you go. Bye-bye, Sokka old buddy,- he thought.

"Suki. Suki, Suki, sweetie we can work this out. Let's just talk. Come on, let's talk. Just talk, I just want to talk, and say things to you that I think and feel, you know, come on Suki, please..."

"Sokka, we can talk in the morning, just lie down," she said, trying to lead him back to the common room where most of the activity had stopped.

"Suki...we almost died. The airships, the mountains, the blobs."

She scowled. "Come on, Sokka, let's go," she said, and waived for Ty Lee to come help her. Sokka could see what was happening.

"Fine!" he shouted, jerking away from her. "Fine! You want the truth! I'll tell you the truth. Are you ready!?"

He did not know where to begin so he blurted. "I love Suzi!"

"Her name is Suki," said Ty Lee, poking Sokka in the back.

"I know what I said," Sokka proclaimed, puffing his chest out. He was dimly aware that someone was coming up the stairs, likely a house keeper coming to tell them to shut up and go to sleep. He would have to say what he had to say now. "I said Suzi. That dark haired girl you heard about. I love her. How do you like that?"

Suki was looking past him, her face a mixture of disgust and vindication. Sokka turned to see Suzi herself standing near the door, her amber eyes darting around in confusion. "Hi," she said. "I'm...Suzi."

-Oh yeah, you never told her you'd be here so she went looking for you. Resourceful, ain't she? Great sense of timing, too,- he thought.

"Pleased to meet you, Suzi," said Suki. "Can you take lover boy here home? We're all very tired of him."

Sokka felt himself get shoved and was caught by Suzi, who gently led him down the stairs while smiling politely and moving fast. When Sokka reached the bottom he looked up to see Suki, her back lit by the lantern light. Ty Lee was standing next to her. "Oh, Sokka? While we're all telling the truth..."

She grabbed Ty Lee by the waist and pulled her closer as the sliding door was shut. Sokka blinked as the stairwell spun and he felt himself tugged along by Azula. No, Suki. No, Suzi.

"Can you believe that?" he asked the woman next to him. "She said she didn't care. After all we've been through together."

He looked into Suzi's face. "After all we've been through. Your leg...your poor leg. I know it hurt you so bad..."

"Sokka, you're scaring me," Suzi said, pushing him away from her face while managing to support him still... "Just keep walking and we'll get you into bed without mother seeing you. Everything will be okay in the morning."

"I'm sorry they scared you," Sokka muttered as his brain spun off into a muggy haze. "I'm sorry it's so dark down here. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone about it. Maybe they'd be nicer to you if I had."

"Shh, Sokka, take it easy," Suzi said. "No more fire wine for you. Ever."

"No more fire," he said. "Oh, no your fire's gone out...gotta get it back..."

The world was a complete blur of darkness by the time she got him to his bed.

-888-

"Sokka! Sokka, wake up!"

Suzi was shaking him, making his brain rattle in fuzzy agony. He groaned and tried to roll away from her, but she was incessant. "Sokka, something's happened! There are soldiers here to see you."

He smacked his lips and tasted stale fire wine and vomit. -Oh no, what did I do?-

He thought of the young nobles who would drink too much and carouse the city, using their connections in the morning to slip responsibility. Was he one of them now? He did not recall the party, but knew like he knew the sun was up that he had made a terrible ass of himself.

"What do they want?" he said, forcing his voice to be hard and flat.

"I don't know. They say something happened at the resort and they want you there right now. Sokka, this is serious!"

-Time to go pay the piper,- he thought, and sat up. He regretted doing that, but Suzi had come prepared with a large mug of some rich, red vegetable juice which Sokka downed in one long gulp.

"I tried to get you to drink some water last night, but you had completely passed out."

"Thanks," he said, handing her back the mug. "I owe everyone a huge apology for all of that, especially you."

"Oh, no, just forget it. But promise you'll never drink like that again, please?

"No problem there. Where are those soldiers?"

They went to the front door where two dour looking men in leather padded uniforms stood. "Your excellency, the Fire Lord is demanding your presence at the Sunset Resort, room twelve. There's been an incident."

"Level with me guys, what happened?" Sokka asked, pausing as he expected shackles to soon make an appearance.

"That's strictly classified," said the younger of the two soldiers.

"So classified no one told us," said the older. "You're to come alone."

Sokka nodded to Suzi who promised to have a large breakfast ready when he returned, plus a special cure for hangovers her mother swore by. Sokka rubbed his eyes and followed the soldiers after bidding her farewell.

The resort had been abandoned save for soldiers who roped much of it off.

At the top of the stairs to the suite they had been in was Ty Lee. Her war paint was smudged and her armor bore dings and scuff marks that had not been present the night before. "Ty Lee, what happened?" Sokka asked.

"You better go in," she said. "I'm sworn to secrecy." Even upset she sounded bubbly.

The first thing he noticed was the wall facing the sea was nearly gone, blown inward by some tremendous force. Nothing inside the suite had been left untouched, as if a typhoon had crashed the party.

Zuko stood with his arms crossed near the missing wall. Next to him was Toph, who sported a white bandage on her head stained with a dull brown spot over her left eye. She had a fat lip and bruises on her arms. "What happened? Where's Katara? Is anyone else hurt?"

"Your sister is in the infirmary. Relax, she's going to be fine. Suki is around with some of the other Kyoshi Warriors trying to get to the bottom of this," said Zuko.

"And Aang?" asked Sokka, thinking the fire wine had triggered his avatar state and he was responsible for this destruction.

Toph stepped in front of Zuko, hands on her hips. "After you left we talked about what a jerk you were, then we went to sleep. Then the wall exploded, and Aang was taken." Her voice was a mix of rage and sorrow and when her voice cracked Sokka thought she might cry, but she held it together and continued. "It was like a crate of blasting jelly went off in here, so it was hard to tell what the things were, but I know they had wings."

The hard floor beneath his feet felt like sand, and as he started to slip he realized there was nothing wrong with the floor, but everything had come loose and was moving. He shook his head and let the pain from his hangover bring the world into focus. "Things with wings? Like wolf bats?"

"I don't know!" Toph shouted. "More like slug bats or something. There were lots of them. Aang and Katara were bending. I don't know what happened, okay!?"

"Okay, I get it," said Sokka. "There was nothing you could do."

Zuko was waving his hands for Sokka to stop but it was too late. Toph stomped over to him and shoved him in the stomach, nearly making him puke. "If you hadn't been a moron, maybe you would have been here to help, but since you weren't you don't get to talk, got it?"

"Got it," he said, too sick to be angry. She left the room and punched the wall in the stairwell hard enough to splinter the wood.

"So, something kidnapped Aang. Great," said Sokka. "Just when were about to go to that island, too."

"You keep saying 'things' did it," said Zuko. "Unless we learn different, it looks like a group of people riding wolf bats swooped in here and took him. They might have left some kind of trail in the grove outside, which Suki is following. Maybe they dropped something that will be a clue to who they were."

"They'd have to be awfully big wolf bats for someone to ride them while they flew," said Sokka. "And what's all this stuff?"

He pointed to dark streaks of mud left around the room. Much was on the floor, but the walls had been stained.

"It's dried up since we got here," Zuko said. "It was slime or something."

"Slime," said Sokka, wiping his finger in some of it and bringing it to his nose. It smelled of the sea. "Are wolf bats slimy?"

"No," said Zuko, staring at Sokka.

Sokka was glad when a Kyoshi Warrior came running in, out of breath. "The beach," she said. "You should come, now."

"I need to see my sister first," said Sokka, knowing whatever physical injuries she bore would be nothing compared to news of Aang being taken. He dared not stop to wonder why he was as calm as he was.

The warrior paused and looked to Zuko. "I think you really should see this first," she said.

Kyoshi Warriors did not unnerve easily, they both knew. "It's just down on the beach, right?" Zuko asked, getting a nod. "Stay here, guard this place and rest. Ty Lee, come with us."

They reached the beach by going to the front of the resort and cutting through the grove of palm trees the kidnappers had plowed through. More of the slime was on the ground along with bent and broken trees and torn fronds. -Wolf bats my butt,- thought Sokka.

Suki and two other warriors were standing several feet from a pile of gray meat that seemed to have washed up on the beach. Behind them were soldiers busy shooing a curious crowd. Sokka thought the mass was a tiger seal or some kind of dolphin, but once he got closer he saw why the others had given it a wide berth.

It was the length of a very tall man. Its body was barrel-shaped and at one end it split into five prongs, like that of a starfish, only at the tip of each star arm was an dull red orb. Around the orb-tipped arms were a number of chela, and it appeared from the look of the teeth on the inside of the arms that this was the thing's mouth. Halfway down the body were long, sail-like wings. Opposite them were two strange appendages that fanned out into spider-like tendrils, and at the creature's base were five more starfish-like arms only thicker.

"It washed up while we were following the trail down the beach," said Suki. "The trail ends at the water."

"Looks like some kind of squid," said Zuko.

"It's the worst squid ever, then," said Ty Lee.

"It's a monster," said Suki. "And there were more of them. They took Aang out to sea!"

"Keep your voice down," hissed Zuko, looking at the soldiers farther down the beach who had managed to stop the onlookers from advancing, but had not driven off completely. "We need to get this thing off the beach and under cover before too many people see it."

"No way I'm touching it," said Ty Lee.

"Zuko, the lemur monkey is out of the bag. Let's just get some soldiers to move it then we can have some scholars find out what it is."

"If you think there was trouble before with the island and the tsunami, wait until people...Agh!"

The thing moved. Its wings flexed and for a moment they thought the wind had done it but when the barrel-shaped body contracted and the powerful feet tentacles got under it, the thing stood upright and began to emit a hideous piping noise.

Sokka quailed under the sound, for he had heard it before. Not it exactly, but an imitation produced by hundreds of amorphous mouths. Hearing the original sent his mind reeling back to that place of cold and dark, thousands of miles from where he was.

While the others jumped back, Sokka was frozen and helpless against being grabbed by bizarre appendages that erupted from a seam in the creature's body. The thing focused each of its red orbs on him, letting him see down its toothy gullet as its raucous piping noise became louder.

Two things occurred to him at once. One was this thing was gravely wounded, and seemed to be falling apart. The other was that the red orbs were eyes, and the toothy hole he was facing down its mouth. He supposed he was looking into its idea of a face, but this thought was short-lived as his mind suddenly felt like it had been left outside of his skull, unprotected as it was blasted by the wind.

-888-

The air around him was thick, almost like water. He stood on a stone plaza beneath an orange sky, hazy with vapor. He was part of a circle formed by dozens of the starfish-headed monsters. Behind them he could see the ocean, and nearby a sea of green ferns, massive ones like he had never seen before.

There was a noise in the air like a concert of flutes, the voices of the creatures. He tried to speak but soon found he was little more than a presence. The piping stopped and their attention was diverted to the horizon where the orange had become a bright red. What appeared to be a comet had streaked down from the sky, leaving a long trail behind it and kicking up a mushroom cloud the size of the sky itself. Sokka could feel the thick air vibrate from the impact and heard the creature's piping become louder and take on a note of panic.

They were all in motion now, and he grew dizzy for he could see in all directions at once. When his gaze dipped he caught a glimpse of the body he wore, and screamed soundlessly.

-888-

The sweat-soaked sheet on his body made him think he was still in that other world with its orange sky, thick air, and giant ferns, and he thrashed about in a brief panic. Darkness and then smells of stone and an extinguished oil lamp settled him.

Suddenly he was being smothered by something warm that smelled of saltwater and flowers. "Sokka, you're awake!" his sister said. She pulled him tighter to her, and he returned her embrace with a gentle pat.

"Had a nightmare. I dreamed I drank too much fire wine and said a bunch of stupid stuff."

She let him go and sat back in the chair next to his bed where she relighted the lamp. The stone walls told him he was not in Suzi's house. A dungeon, perhaps? "No, that actually happened," Katara said.

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Let me guess, monsters kidnapping Aang was real, too."

He had not seen her face like it was since their mother had been killed. Sokka wiped his face with his hands and would have wanted more sleep but for the dim memory of his nightmare. "I haven't been hanging out with weird starfish monsters have I? Is the sky orange?" he asked, wanting desperately to see her smile.

"No," Katara said, her eyebrow raising. He would take confusion over her sick, stricken look. "One of the things we think took Aang got left behind. It attacked you, then died. Zuko burned it up."

"How long have I been out?"

She had been hale and plump-cheeked at the party, but now her skin was an ashen color and he could see the hollows in her face and eyes. "Two weeks," she said.

"Wha!?" he rolled of the bed and his weak legs refused to support him. Katara rushed to his side and helped him first to his knees, then onto the bed.

"Sokka, listen," she said. "Just listen and promise me you won't do anything right away, okay?"

"What do you mean two weeks? How hard did that thing hit me?" he was checking his head for bandages, or lumps, or cuts and finding nothing but unkempt hair.

"I couldn't find any physical injuries on you at all. Now, promise me you won't do anything rash, okay? Promise me."

"Alright, I promise. What is it, what's going on?"

She had been crying a great deal, but was tapped for tears now. "Zuko and the others went to that island on a ship a week and a half ago. Three days ago, it sunk."

"How'd the ship sink?"

"Not the ship, the island! They found the ship abandoned and there's no sign of them."

Her eyes had become moist, and Sokka put his hand out to comfort her. It felt like he was holding out a brick of stone. "By everyone you mean..."

"Suki, Toph, Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee, and a few of the Kyoshi Warriors."

-Suki, no. Not after all that garbage.- Sokka swallowed hard, knowing now was not the time to let his feelings run away with him. They might crush him completely if he gave them an inch, so he choked back his madness and squeezed Katara's hand.

"Who knows about this?" he asked, reminding himself that Zuko's fears about usurpers had not been unfounded.

"Everyone knows they went, and the rumors about them disappearing are spreading," she said. "Iroh fights at least one firebending duel a day against people who want him out of the way. He's holding the throne as regent for now."

Her voice was flat. She had rehearsed these words. "And you're afraid I'll run off after them and get lost myself?" he asked.

"I know it's silly. I should have gone with them, after Aang, but I couldn't leave you. I didn't know what to do," she said, her tears coming back.

He hugged her close to him and rubbed between her shoulder blades. "Everything will be fine. We don't know what's happening, so we can't assume it's hopeless."

-It might be, though,- he thought, remembering words he had shared with Azula in the South Pole years before. She had come to know things about what was going on beneath the desolate mountain, things too strange to be idle fancies. And then there was the journal they had found.

He wished he had not sent Hoplo's journal back to the Northern Water Tribe, for he was certain something in it might make their situation clearer. While he had poured over its maps and notes, using the information to orchestrate their survival, there had been other writings, things that made no sense, that had no context.

"Okay," he said, feeling his innards calm back to normal. "We have to take one thing at a time, just like when I was stuck with Azula. I need to get a handle on the situation. Where's Iroh? And Master Piandao?"

"Iroh has been in the war counsel room with some of the generals he trusts. There aren't many. Piandao is sometimes with him. What are you thinking of doing?"

"It depends on how much time we have," said Sokka. "I care about everyone we're missing, but Aang and Zuko being gone is going to hurt us the most. If the Fire Nation gets a new Fire Lord, that could mean another war. We need to take care of that first."

"Then what?" she asked.

"So totally not there yet," he said. "Please tell me we still have Appa?"

"Yes, but he's really upset about Aang. They had to tie him down."

Sokka clucked his tongue. "I'll make it a point to go see the big guy soon and calm him down. We lost Aang once before, remember?" He got dressed behind a screen and after getting his hair in order, he and Katara left the room. They were now outside on a stone path that ran atop a wall separating the palace grounds from the city.

"I need you to do something for me," he said.

"What?"

"You remember those underwater boats we used on the Day of Black Sun to invade the Fire Nation? The submarines?"

"Yeah, they were all captured," Katara said.

"And hopefully not scrapped. Find Piandao and get his help figuring out what was done with them. If there's one left we might need it."

Her mouth pressed into a hard line, and she nodded. "We'll need them if we're going to the bottom of the sea. The pressure is too much for my bending. Will the submarines handle it?"

"If they can't, I'll make it so they can," he said. "We might not need them, but if we do it's best to be ahead of the game. Meet me back here later, okay? And tell Suzi I'm awake."

"Suzi, that girl you like? She looks just like Az..."

He sputtered and shook his finger. "Never mind all that nonsense! She's been a good friend to me, better than I deserve. Please?"

"Alright," Katara said. "I guess it's not fair to dislike her for how she looks. But it's eerie, don't you think?"

He rolled his eyes but figured Katara needed something to take her mind off the desperate situation, even if only momentarily, so he nodded and thought he could use something to divert his thoughts also. "Yeah, it's weird. I'll see ya later." He patted her on the arm and they parted.

-888-

Seeing Iroh in the shadows of the war room made him appreciate how young the man had once looked, despite his age. His wrinkled skin was ashen in color, his gray hairs gone to white, and his once sparkling amber eyes were now flat and the color of pus. There was a burn on his right hand from a recent Agni Kai he had fought with a young general, a man who had been willing to risk banishment to weaken Iroh's position as regent.

"So it's that bad, huh?" Sokka said, after hearing of Iroh's woes. The fires that normally lit the room were out, and all they had for light was some lamps hung from posts.

"I'm afraid so," Iroh said. "Part of the problem is that Zuko's claim to the title of Fire Lord was his defeat of Azula in an Agni Kai at her coronation, but as we all know he had a little help."

"But she threw the lighting bolt at my sister," Sokka said, who like everyone else only knew of Azula's last battle from accounts Katara and Zuko had given. "She's the one who failed the Agknee whatever when she got someone else involved."

"Agni Kai is a set of words used to describe a fight, and all a fight proves is who won," said Iroh. "Perception is what is important here and Zuko has not been Fire Lord long enough for all to perceive him as being a true ruler. As you know, many think my brother is the true Fire Lord and if not him, then Azula."

"We just need to find out what happened to Zuko and Aang before these people can try something serious," said Sokka. "I've got my sister looking for Piandao who might know where some old submarines are. Once we get one, we can..."

"There's no time," Iroh said. He took a deep, rattling breath and looked like he might collapse into himself where he sat overlooking the long table. "I know you will go looking for the others in any event, but I fear there will be a coup here soon, and if that happens the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom will be at war again."

Sokka signed, not wishing to arguing politics with the old man. He was right anyway. Thankfully he had not brought up a possibility that had crossed both their minds, one Sokka felt was useless to consider.

In the silence and gloom, the wheels of Sokka's mind turned. He and Iroh had discussed the strange happenings, and he had told the old man of his dream. Iroh asked many questions, and while both agreed it was likely no normal dream neither could say what it meant.

"I know you and your friends are used to solving big problems, but this may be out of your hands. Focus on finding the ones we love and let me and the rest of the White Lotus do what we can here," said Iroh. "After my son died I stepped away from power and focused my attention on my nephew. That was wise then, but not now."

"I think you're right," said Sokka, knowing it had taken all of Iroh's wisdom and self-control not to insist on searching for Zuko himself. "It's too bad we can't pull the same trick the Dai Li did in the Earth Kingdom, only in reverse. The Earth King didn't have a clue there had been a war going on his entire life. We could make everyone think Zuko is still here and calling the shots."

"The Fire Nation is very different from the Earth Kingdom," Iroh said. "There they place a great deal of importance on institutions and customs. The system rules, while here the strength of a ruler's personality is what binds us. But perhaps not...Since Fire Lord Sozin, it seems like it's been the same man ruling only with a different face."

"Yeah," Sokka said, stifling a yawn and knowing when he had provoked an old man into rambling. He stood, then nearly fell down as an idea struck him. "Faces! Yes! No...wait, yes! I have an idea, but you're the only one that can tell me if it will work."

Iroh's brow furrowed, but his dull eyes had threatened to twinkle. "Oh?"

"Follow me!"

Iroh had thrown on some peasant's robes before leaving the palace along with a straw hat and followed Sokka to Suzi's house. It had become dark and the loss of the day made Sokka bounce with impatience. Suzi opened the door and in the lamplight her eyes were puffy from crying. He felt his throat lock up when he realized the massive favor he was about to ask her. "May we come in?" asked Iroh after Sokka had been silent for too long.

"Yes, of course," Suzi said.

"Az...no," Iroh said when they were inside and all was bright from lanterns. "I think I see where you're going with this, young man."

"What's going on?" Suzi asked.

"Well, there's something I kinda wanted to run by you," said Sokka. "It's a huge favor and I'll owe you more than I can ever pay you back for."

"The world may owe you a debt," said Iroh. "Ah, forgive me. We've been terribly rude." He bowed. "I am Iroh, Regent to the Fire Nation. Eh, Sokka is my adviser but you know him."

"Yes, I do," she said, smiling and wiping her eyes. "Why don't we talk over tea? Mother is out, as usual."

The mention of tea brightened Iroh's spirits considerably and soon they were sitting around the same table Sokka had felt so at ease at weeks before with steaming cups in front of them. "This is fine tea," said Iroh. "If you ever want to work in a tea shop, come to Ba Sing Se."

Suzi smiled, but her looked hardened when she turned to Sokka. "You should thank your sister that I even let you in the door," she said. "You're in a coma for days and when you wake up you start running around instead of coming to see me...tsk, tsk, tsk."

She was kidding, and he let out a breath into his tea making it look like he was cooling it. -Something tells me Katara said a few others things to her, too,- he thought, sensing Suzi was now more distant than she had been, although the space between them was warm.

"I was supposed to meet her earlier, too," Sokka said. "But let's get down to business, and I'll confess I haven't had all the details worked out, but, Iroh, you know what I've got in mind, will it even work?"

Iroh looked to Suzi and held his hands up before him to frame her face. "With some acting and a little makeup, I think it could. The resemblance is...disturbing. No disrespect."

Suzi squirmed. "This is getting a little creepy," she said.

"You look just like Princess Azula," said Sokka. "I mean, you're hair is cut different and you're way, way, way, nicer and a lot less crazy, but with some effort only the people who knew her well could tell the difference."

"It's true. Azula is my niece and I doubt I would be able to tell the difference right away if your makeup and hair were done differently."

Suzi nodded and pushed an errant strand of black hair back into place. Her look of befuddlement had not left her features. "I've had some people remark on the resemblance, but I've never seen the princess herself. I heard she was locked up in a special cell somewhere because she went mad."

Sokka almost said it was more complicated than that, but he merely nodded. "The real problem is that with Zuko and Aang missing some people want to take over or maybe even put Azula back on the throne. The war would start again."

Suzi's face hardened and it was as though Azula had stepped into her skin, making both men squeeze their tea mugs tighter. "Why would anyone do that?" Suzi said. "Haven't enough children grown up without fathers?"

"More than enough," said Iroh, his eyes rolling over the portrait of a man that hung on the wall between two windows. "If you could pretend to be her, I could arrange it so you were crowned Fire Lord. You would make your first act the appointment of me as your adviser, and we can prevent a war from breaking out. With the help of some Pai Sho players I know in the Earth Kingdom, maybe this can work."

"I'm game," said Suzi, and she took a deep sip of tea. Sokka looked to the portrait on the wall. It was a detailed pencil drawing of a man with soft eyes and sharp features. "This is going to be dangerous," Sokka said. "Even if you're not discovered, being someone like Azula isn't easy."

"Iroh can give me pointers," said Suzi. "But where's the real Azula going to be during all of this? What are we going to tell my mother? She's not around much, but she's kinda protective."

"We can tell your mother the Southern Water Tribe is looking for a Fire Nation ambassador, and given that I'm the Water Tribe's ambassador here, it seemed like a good fit. Tell her it's only for a few months and it'll move you up in the world. As for the real Azula, I don't know what we're going to do with her yet. There's a lot I don't know, but this is going to give us some breathing room."

"It doesn't matter how long the journey is, it's all accomplished by putting one foot before the other," said Iroh. "And your next step should be to find your sister before she gets mad. I'll talk with Suzi some more. You can leave much of this to me now."

"Thanks," Sokka said. "I'll come by later." This he said to Suzi who smiled kindly at him. When he left, he ran back to his room in the palace and found Katara there, sitting in the dark by herself.

"Sorry I'm late, but one our biggest problems might be solved," he said, and told her about his plans for Suzi and Azula.

"It is a good thing I talked to her," said Katara. "She liked you, you know."

"I know," said Sokka. "I didn't know how to put her off without being a jerk so I never did. And now Suki thinks I'm a jerk, and she's..."

He sat on his bed and hung his face in his hands. Katara sat next to him and put her arm over his shoulder. "I have good news, too. I found Piandao and he seemed like he could find one of those old submarines easy enough."

"Good," he said, picking his head up. "I need to go see Azula."

"We'll go in the morning," said Katara.

"No, just me. We need her on board, at least a little, and I think I can convince her if it's just me."

"Okay," Katara said. "I know I'm not her favorite person. The feeling is mutual, actually."

Sokka kicked off his boots and laid down. Katara did the same and lay on the other side of him, and after the lamp was blown out he could almost pretend it was like when they had been children, sharing a pile of furs while Gran Gran snored. There was no snoring now, only the hum of Sokka's mind as it spun in circles, threatening to form terrible patterns.

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 3: Together Again

**Chapter III.**

**Together Again **

After loudly proclaiming his status as adviser to the Fire Lord and insisting that he was there on direct orders from the regent, Sokka was admitted into the asylum after having his boomerang taken and his body thoroughly searched by some rough-handed guards.

"I trust you will report to the regent how seriously we take security and patient safety," said Chief Healer Bin. She sported a few more wrinkles than when Sokka had last seen her but was otherwise unchanged. "Naturally, we had been working on these protocols for some time and have only recently begun to implement them."

"Naturally," said Sokka. It was clear they feared Azula would be assassinated or kidnapped, and he wondered who had pressured the asylum's keepers to be more careful. His coming here would likely be noted, but it was necessary to secure Azula's cooperation.

Azula had been moved. Rather than go down the long hall towards the sea, Bin led him down a flight of spiraling stairs where the walls were cold and damp and smelled of seawater. "She's regressed," said Bin when whey were in the dark and headed for light at the end of the hallway. "Although that would imply progress had been made in the first place. In any case, she had to be moved to more secure quarters."

Sokka did not believe this until they reached the cell. Bars and a fine steel screen of the sort that kept sparks escaping from fireplaces to set the floor aflame had been placed around the large stone room. The walls were covered in scorch marks that made patterns he could not discern.

The torchlight was enough to show him his foggy breath, but the air was not cold enough to freeze the water dripping from the walls. "Is she down here like this all the time?" he asked.

"Yes. It's necessary to keep her bending in check. She's a very powerful bender, as I'm sure you know."

Sokka swallowed, thinking even Azula did not deserve to live like this, not with what she had been through. -Her mind is gone, there's no way she's kept sane through this,- he thought.

"I won't be long, but this needs to be a private conversation," he said.

"Just so you know, you won't be allowed to leave until someone checks on her," said Bin. "I'll be at the top of the stairs with a team of guards. And that's only because I trust you."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sokka said.

When Dr. Bin was gone, Sokka called out to Azula twice with no answer. Thinking she was asleep, he reached into his wolf's tail and removed something long, metal, and thin. Iroh had made sure he was equipped with it before he left for the asylum and he slipped it into the lock on the cell and turned it slowly, knowing that if it broke he was out of options.

"Azula," he said when he was in the cell. "Azula, it's me, Sokka. Wake up, come on."

She sprang at him from the dark and they went down with her on top. Even with her clanking shackles she was able to straddle him and breathe a jet of flame at his face, which he dodged only by sitting up and tucking his head into her shoulder.

Her restraints made it nothing for him to roll her off and sit on her back, keeping her head down and to the side while clamping his hand over her mouth. "Stop, just stop! I'm getting you out of here!" he whispered, expecting to hear the boots of guards clomping down the hall.

Azula stopped squirming and her amber eye rolled up at him with the look of a panicked animal. She shook her head until his hand left her mouth. "Get me out? H-how?"

That her first question was not "why" told Sokka how bad it had been for her. "That's what we have to talk about," he said. "Some stuff has happened."

He told her about Aang, his experience on the beach, Zuko's lost expedition, and finally the coup Iroh was expecting. He did not tell her about Suzi and hoped she did not sense he was holding something back, for everything hinged on her now.

She laughed and buried her face into the stone floor while her body shook. She laughed for a long time, long enough for him to think their time was growing too short. "Are you going to slip the dagger in me, or not?" she asked. "No, poison then? You've come very ill-prepared, Sokka, unless you mean to strangle me with those snow peasant hands of yours."

"I didn't come to kill you," he said. "I was hoping you'd help me get to the bottom of all this."

"And why shouldn't I take my rightful place as Fire Lord?" she asked. "I conquered Ba Sing Se once, I can do it again, and this time all my enemies seem to be gone."

He got to his feet and hoisted her into a standing position. She was hunched over; not all of her shaking had been from laughter. "No, there won't be anyone to stand in your way at all. You'll rule the world right up until whatever took Aang decides otherwise."

She leaned against him and composed herself, standing up straight after a final tremor shook her beneath her jacket. "I've been dreaming," she said. "That thing that touched me in the caves, it exposed me, stripped away some kind of protective coating I once had, and now horrors of all kinds can send me dreams and thoughts."

A single, sickly lamp provided the cell's only light, and with some effort Azula made it glow brighter, revealing the scorch marks on the wall. Sokka looked at them and shuddered. They depicted a surprisingly well-made drawing of a city with mad, twisting streets and equally twisted spires, and dark places. Above the city loomed something like a dark sun, only its rays were like tentacles. "Is that what you dream about?" he asked when the light faded.

"Yes," she said. "It's what I see. I hear things, too."

"Hang in there for a little longer," he said. "We'll be getting you out sooner rather than later, but don't go thinking I won't take you down hard if you try anything funny, got it?"

Her smile was evil, only her eyes held some other emotion that confused and frightened him. "For a moment it almost sounded like you were feeling sorry for me," she said.

"I just think you need a nicer cage. I haven't forgotten anything," he said.

"Did you forget what I left you on your cheek?"

He rubbed his neck, feeling the scar she had left him with her fingernails. The kiss had been burned into his memory. "I remember the scar you left on my neck," he said.

"I didn't want you to forget who you were dealing with."

"I didn't," he said. "Good bye. You'll be out of here soon."

"Soon," she said, and went back to where she had been sitting while Sokka locked the cell door and made his way back to Bin, who he hoped thought him too much a savage to attempt any chicanery.

-888-

Sokka ate all the rice around his calamari, and was poking the remains of the tentacled beast with his chopsticks while pondering how to tactfully tell the dinner servers he would no longer be eating things that did not have spines. He could not shake the image Azula had scorched into the wall of her cell, and could not stop associating it with some tentacled monstrosity despite not having a clear idea on what it actually was supposed to have been.

With him in his room was Piandao, whose face Sokka was glad to see, and Katara, who looked better now that they were taking action. "The scholars could not identify that thing on the beach," said Piandao, having waited for them to partially finish their meals. "I normally don't like to make assumptions, but it seems clear they came and went with the island. It would seem we now need to find a way to go after them."

"So it would seem," said Sokka, catching on to his teacher's phrasing. "We know Zuko and the others went there on a boat. We know the island sank. We know they haven't come back yet. We'd be pretty dumb to just hop in a submarine and go down there with no clue about what we're getting into."

He saw Katara stir and held up a finger to delay her objection. "Think about it, two of the strongest benders we know, and some pretty strong non-bending warriors, all got captured. And that's when they weren't a mile under water."

Katara crossed her arms and frowned at him, aware of how she was normally the one calling for caution and forethought. "So what's your plan, then? Get a bunch of earthbenders together to raise the island from the sea?" she asked.

"No, but write that down," Sokka said. "I need to know who, or what, took Aang and why. Once I'm sure of it, then we can worry about going diving."

"You said 'sure of it.' Do you suspect something now?" asked Piandao.

Sokka forced himself to eat a piece of squid, and as he chewed he pondered for the thousandth time on whether or not to keep silent about what he had encountered beneath the mountains in the South Pole. He and Azula had seen nothing like the creature on the beach, but he remembered vividly what she had said after her mind was touched by one of the beings that did live there.

They had been sitting in a tent he had built from spare airship canvass and the remains of the expedition that had gone through the caves some two-hundred years before them. Azula's bending had left her temporarily, and without it they could not heat the air in the balloon he had planned to build. He forgot how they had come on the subject, but in talking about the blob monsters and the builders of the ruined city she'd said:

"The blobs didn't make that city. Tube-like monsters with heads like starfish, and the wings of wolf bats built it. They made the blobs, too, but they made them too smart, and one day they rose up and killed their creators." She had spoken in a semi-trance, almost as though she had rehearsed a speech. "The stupidest of those starfish-headed things would make our brightest scholars look like children or fools. They colonized this planet like they did many others and created those blob things to serve them. The blobs...they don't think, not really. They mimic thinking like they mimic our voices and their master's voices, but they're really just mindless idiots that can absorb, store, and transfer information."

She had said other horrible things as well, that the starfish-headed things had created the first life on the planet then ignored it, meaning he, along with everything he knew and loved, was nothing more than a poorly tended science experiment.

He remembered his glib, stupid response. "So?" he had said.

Starfish-headed things, with wings like wolf-bats. If the blobs mimicked their language like she said, then that meant their language had consisted of weird piping noises. The thing they found on the beach fit the description alright.

Now he looked his teacher in the eye and lied.

"When we first went to the Northern Water Tribe, Yue showed me the library there. She mentioned a weird book about starfish-headed monsters. Plus, you know, the things live in the sea, Water Tribe, I figure it's a good place to go ask questions."

He could see he had not fooled Piandao, but the man merely stroked his chin.

Sokka felt awful about lying, but could not bear telling them the truth after so long. He had been a liar all these years. His only consolation was that his fears about the world knowing the truth were likely well-founded. Too much poking by humans had likely roused the starfish monsters, he thought. Perhaps all was not as it had seemed under those mountains. Perhaps the blobs were not as free of their masters as Azula thought. Was it not conceivable that the starfish-headed things had become annoyed over their pets being disturbed? If they found the crashed airship, they might have enough information to know something about the human civilization beyond the snowy wastes.

None of that explained the rising and sinking island, Aang's kidnapping, or anything Azula had said since. "We need information, that's the bottom line," he said, telling the truth.

"I agree with you," said Katara. "But it feels like we're abandoning them."

"Far from it," said Piandao. "I just hope your search for answers bears fruit quickly."

"We've got Appa to fly us north, and the switcharoo we're going to pull with Azula and Suzi should keep things together around here long enough for us to learn something and come back. If we learn nothing, then I'm with you, Katara, we'll charge in with every powerful bender who's willing to come along."

"Speaking of the 'switcharoo,' what are we doing with Azula in the meantime?" asked Katara.

"Tahing hur wi' s'" Sokka said, cramming a mass of rice into his mouth.

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't be," he said, swallowing.

"It sounded like you said she's coming with us," said Katara, rising to her feet with her hands balled into fists.

"I didn't say those exact words," said Sokka, bowing his head.

"Are you crazy? _She's _crazy! Homicidal, too. I take it there's a method to your madness?"

"We can keep an eye on her better if she's with us," he said. "Keeping her locked up somewhere else would require trusting a lot of people, and we can't risk that yet. It's better she's under our thumb and a thousand miles away from the Fire Nation than close by where she can find supporters and cause trouble."

It surprised him how much sense that made, and while Piandao clearly sensed ulterior motives, Katara had a look of grim acceptance. "As long as she's clear that I'll put her down permanently if she tries to hurt us, I'll go along with it," Katara said.

"I'll make sure she gets the message," he said. "Just so you know, she might be as interested in finding Zuko as we are, plus she's no slouch in a fight, which we might run into."

The notion Azula cared for Zuko died a cold, lonely death on the flat expanse of Katara's face, while Piandao expressed his own doubts with a pensive look.

"When is the switch happening?" Katara asked.

"Tomorrow," said Piandao. "Iroh has started rumors that he will be abdicating the throne to Azula, which has slowed down some of the maneuvering against him. You two don't have to worry about this part, just be ready to leave with the real Azula tomorrow evening."

"I'd better go check on Appa, then," said Sokka.

Katara had been soothing the sky bison as much as she could, but without Aang he had not been in a good mood. Sokka knew the bison had some spiritual connection to Aang and thought if Appa was still worried, and not wallowing in despair, that was a good sign that Aang still lived.

Appa had been stabled in an ostrich horse barn. The sight of chains around his ankles pained Sokka, who let the bison lick him with his massive, flat tongue as his nose was petted. "I don't know if you can understand me all that well, big guy, but to help Aang we have to go far away like we did last time. I promise I won't make as much of a mess as I did then, okay?"

Appa made a low rumbling noise and Sokka patted his big black nose, taking his grunt as a sign of understanding. He smiled and thought of Momo, who according to Katara was keeping Bumi company until Aang's next visit. "What do you think, big guy? Am I making a huge mistake bringing Azula along?"

Appa's grunt could have meant anything. "We've been through rougher than this, haven't we?"

The bison grunted heavily and sunk down into the hay that had been laid out for him. The smell of the stray mixed with Appa's musk, and Sokka remained until the odor filled his nose and mouth, and clung to his clothing. It was a comforting smell that reminded him of better days and hills already climbed.

Appa suddenly stirred in a way that was like a spark through Sokka. He turned. Down the muddy path that ran between the smaller stables were two men trying to duck out of sight behind a pile of straw. When they saw that they were spotted, they dropped all pretense and came towards Sokka.

It was hard to tell their age but one was older than the other and likely a father or much older brother. They wore the tunics typical of Fire Nation peasants, only unlike most Sokka had seen near the wealthy capital islands these men's clothes were threadbare and dirty.

They were remarkably ugly, he noted. They sported no facial hair on their grimy, slick-looking skin. They had fleshy throats, almost no chins, sloping heads with receding hairlines, and not only were their eyes a tad too far apart, they bulged from their sockets more than was normal.

"You that snow savage thinks he's Fire Lord?" the younger one said when the men stopped in front of him. Appa had risen and was growling, which should have put both men on edge but they did not seem to notice the big beast.

Sokka held off on reaching for his boomerang, but turned so the men could see it clearly. "Get lost," he said, for there was nothing he wanted to hear from someone who called him a snow savage.

"We ain't the ones that's lost," said the younger. "You is. More lost thin you knows. Best clear off, or..."

"He ain't gon listin," said the older one, whose voice was like an old mole toad. "I told yew he ain't gon listin."

The young one licked his fat, greasy lips with some difficulty. His mouth seemed more inclined to open and close like a fish rather than the wide mouthed amphibian he resembled. "'Spose yew right on that account," said the younger. "Alright, do whit ye want."

Their daggers appeared at the same time, and Sokka was almost caught off his guard when they both shouted in near unison "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!"

-Cthulhu,- was the word that rung in his mind. He head heard it before, from Azula, and the word had been ugly even from her lips. Uttered by these men it was nothing short of grotesque, hearing it was like being splashed with the contents of a chamber pot.

Appa let out a deep rumble that ignited Sokka into motion. He drew his boomerang in the same movement he used to close the distance between him and the younger man.

These men were not warriors. Their dagger work was done in the dark when their victims were asleep or too weak to fight back. They had taken him for such a weakling, and only the old man was able to regret the error for long. Sokka stepped around the younger man as he lunged and hit him in the back of the head with his boomerang. It looked and sounded like a mere tap, but the younger man went down hard, leaving Sokka to bounce on his feet before the elder.

Insane anger flashed in the man's fishy eyes and he slashed the air in front of him with the dagger, pushing Sokka back towards Appa, who was not free to come out of his stable. The older man had more experience with the knife, and his wild slash drove Sokka back to force him into a tighter space.

The man intended to grab Sokka or his boomerang, then stab, but Sokka ruined the strategy by swinging for the hand that held the knife. The blade went clattering to the ground while the hand that held it was left to dangle from a snapped wrist.

"Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!" the man screamed, shaking his head and wagging his jowls. Foam was on his lips as he charged. Sokka ducked and dealt him a blow to the knee cap, breaking it into two pieces and causing the man to collapse in a heap. Rather than rise, he lay coiled in pain, muttering strange words.

Sokka did not have to go far to find some soldiers who were on their way already from having heard the screams. The old man spit and tried to bite them all while shouting "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!" and other foul-sounding words, none of which Sokka could have repeated had he tried.

Things happened quickly. Sokka felt as though he had slipped and fallen in a stream and was being buffeted along, colliding with different faces and locations all the while being asked questions and to repeat his story about what had happened.

A numb feeling came over him when he was told the younger man was dead, and the older had taken his own life.

When the feeling of being carried by a river stopped he was sitting in the war room with Iroh, Piandao, Katara, and Suzi, the last of which wore a thick head scarf and a shawl.

Sokka made a sound like a bird calling then said "Cuth-ooh-lu fuh-tan. At least that's what it sounded like."

"And you say you think you've heard something like it before, in the Northern Water Tribe?" asked Piandao.

"My memory is kinda fuzzy," Sokka said, wishing Piandao would stop acting so skeptical, as it seemed to be catching on with the others. "When I was there, I was more worried about the Fire Nation invasion than weird books and chants."

"We just can't afford a wild boar-q-pine chase if there are other options to explore," said Piandao.

"It's not a wild chase, believe me," Sokka said, hoping for trust if not belief. "Does anyone know who those guys were? They didn't look like they were from around here."

Iroh cleared his throat and his features narrowed, making him look like a gray, moss-covered rock. "Both men are dead, so we can't ask them questions," said Iroh.

His words made Sokka's stomach turn, but he kept his composure by acting stern. "That's too bad, but they made it pretty clear they were tying to kill me," he said.

"You acted appropriately," said Piandao. "We suspect they were from a distant settlement called Outer-maw. It was once a prosperous fishing village, but it fell on hard times many, many years ago and the people there, well, let's say they've developed a reputation."

"But why would a pair of dirt bags come after Sokka?" asked Katara. "I mean, I know he's important now, but..."

"Now? Now!?" Sokka said, indignant. He crossed his arms while Katara frowned. "They did say something about me thinking I'm the Fire Lord," was all he chose to volunteer. Right now, their motives looked one part political and two parts racist, and he decided that was best.

-Every time something like this happens and you keep quiet, it gets worse,- he thought.

Katara would learn the truth soon enough, he realized, but perhaps not all of it. It depended on what they found in the Northern Water Tribe and if he could somehow get Hoplo's journal back without admitting he had once held it. Azula would also have to keep her mouth shut, and that thought made him feel heavy.

-Hoplo's journal never mentioned a "Cthulhu," I'm pretty sure, but it sounds so messed up I might have thought it was a scribble and skipped over it. And that city under the south pole...all domes and tunnels. That city Azula drew was nothing like that.-

It occurred to him that telling them the truth about the south pole might not shed light on anything, only add to the confusion and lead to questions he could not answer.

"We'll have to take more precautions, given the attack," said Piandao, breaking Sokka out of his thoughts.

"Have guards been placed around Appa?" he asked.

"They have," said Iroh. "And I would strongly recommend you two not wander around by yourselves. You're both very capable of defending yourselves, but even the strong have been known to fall under knives from the shadows."

Both siblings nodded somberly, and after talking with Piandao more about the submarine, they left to Sokka's new quarters while Suzi went with Piandao to be hidden in an out of the way chamber until the ideal time she could be switched with Azula.

As they walked across the palace grounds, the night had taken on a thickness Sokka did not like. Every shadowy corner seemed to hold a white, bloated face and he felt the handle of his boomerang for comfort. Had nothing else worried his mind, he might have felt heavy over having killed a man, but like the men who had died in the airship explosion three years ago, the act was distant from him, as though someone else had done it.

"Are you alright?" Katara asked as the night air brought a chilly breeze between them.

"I've got a lot on my mind. I'm sure you do, too."

"Yeah. It feels a little like the old old days, before we met Aang."

"I wish. The world seemed pretty small then. Had I known better, it might have been harder to jump on the back of a flying buffalo with some weird kid and fly away, you know?"

"You would have gone anyway," she said. "I always thought you were meant to roam farther than our little village."

"Yeah? Sometimes I think I'm in way over my head. I mean, Zuko named me his adviser. The Fire Lord's adviser. That's nuts."

"You know, you were always kind of the leader of Team Avatar," she said. "You did a lot to save the world."

"We all did, I still think it should be called the BoomerAang Squad," he said.

"Ah, no," she said, her laugh a little puff of air. "Sokka, why are we really going to the Northern Water Tribe?"

He stopped walking and let the night close in on him, thick and blinding. His sister's bronze skin blended in with the shadow, making her blue tunic and eyes stand out. He looked around as though making sure they were alone to buy himself a few more seconds. "I didn't lie," he said. "We need more information on what's happening, and we can get it there."

"You said Yue told you about a book, and you thought you heard that weird chant before. Piandao didn't believe you, and neither do I," she said.

She was not angry, but the fear in her voice was worse than any stern words she could have uttered. Sokka pressed his lips together and reminded himself that she did not need to know everything. "There is a book there I think can help, or maybe many books. I had the book once. I found it, someplace."

"You're not making any sense. Sokka, please, tell me what's going on. Aang is missing and so is everyone we care about. Please."

His hands twitched. He wanted to cover her mouth, to make sure she said nothing more in that tone again. It had come quick, blindsiding him, reminding of a day many years ago when he had listened to her crying, begging their mother to move again.

Sokka could not lie to her now, but the full truth seemed just as cruel and would only make him look insane and make her more afraid.

"Alright, I'll tell you," he said. "When I was stuck in the South Pole with Azula, we went through some caves. I told you about that, but what I didn't tell anyone was the cave had been visited by explorers before us. I guess not all of them made it out, because we found an old mummy. I also found the mummy's journal, which I read. The guy had seen some weird stuff, and I'm pretty sure he mentioned something like what we saw on the beach, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I sent the journal to the Northern Water Tribe because that's where the guy was from. I want to at least look at the journal again, or maybe find some smart guys at the library who might know something."

"I can't believe you," she said, and began walking quickly.

"But that's the truth! Why would I lie?"

"You're not lying, but you're not telling me even half the story," she said. "Did you forget I'm your sister? That I know you better than anybody? Or at least I thought I did."

He could only blubber, having been blindsided by the speed of her anger. He let her storm away, knowing their quarters were not far off and the palace was thick with extra patrols. She would be more reasonable in the morning, he thought.

-She's reasonable now. What's the point in keeping all this from her? You think Azula will keep her mouth shut? Oh, man, she's going to have a field day with this.-

Most times his plans came together like jigsaw puzzles. Before him was all the pieces, the problem, the resources he had, and he turned them over to see which ends fit and which ones did not. Other times ideas shot nearly formed like lighting bolts from the dark, swirling cloud beneath his conscious mind. An bolt had come up just now, nearly perfect, and he acted.

He ran to one of the guardhouses where he knew he would be well received if there were anyone there at all not out on patrol, and went to the changing room. There he located two guard uniforms. He put one on and tucked the other into a knapsack. He stopped briefly to consider provisions, but speed was of the essence now, and he had enough money in his coin purse to purchase what he wanted soon enough.

-This is dumb,- he thought. -Really dumb. Not only will it not work, no one is going to be happy with you.-

But it would work. He would learn something in the Northern Water Tribe that he could use to save his friends from some monsters, and "some monsters" is all they would ever be known as by those he loved, and the world at large. At worst he would be seen as impetuous and over-protective, foolhardy maybe. Not a liar who kept secrets.

Sokka rented an ostrich horse and reached the asylum in an hour. Dressed as a guard and being familiar with the place, he had no trouble getting inside, but once he tried to reach Azula's cell things became difficult. He was questioned by a guard captain who angrily reassigned him to another floor, and after an hour of pretending to be on patrol by mainly avoiding other guards, he found his way back to the stairwell that led down to the long hall, at the end of which Azula was kept. He still had the dubious master key Iroh had given from before, and the long walk in the damp and dark was the second longest he had taken in his life.

-She won't be there,- he thought. -They already had her moved.-

Azula lay on her side in the middle of the cell and did not stir when he opened the door. He crept over her and clamped his hand over her mouth to wake her. Her amber eyes shot open and fixated on him, but she did not scream or stir. "Slight change in plans. Put this on," he said, laying down the other guard uniform he had bundled inside his knapsack.

"Get me out of this jacket, dummy," she hissed.

Freeing her from the straight jacket took long enough for him to feel panic, but he eventually got her free. She wore a maroon shirt beneath the jacket, and her joints popped when she stretched. She was unable to stifle a low moan. "I hate that thing," she said. "That Bin had best hope I don't see her again."

"Forget her, just get dressed," Sokka said, stuffing the straight jacket into the knapsack.

"There will be quite an uproar when people learn I've disappeared," she said. "I wonder how dear Uncle plans to handle that?"

"You know him, he's wise," said Sokka. "Come on, we have to be quick."

"You're very trusting, you know? I imagine I could cause a fair bit of havoc to whatever plans you've got laid simply by taking off this helmet."

"And I can bop you on the head with my boomerang," he said. "Look, we'll have all the time in the world to say stupid stuff to each other later, okay?"

The haunted look she wore on her face said nothing about whether or not she planned treachery or had simply been needling him, and he had to take her nod and half smirk as agreement. Sokka turned his back on her and walked to the end of the long, dark hall to stop at the bottom of the stairs and listen. "I'll go up first and whistle if it's clear. The less people see us, or you, the better," he said.

At the top of the stairs he met the floor captain, a large, hairy man who needed to go up a size in armor. "Hey," he said. "Fuzo's supposed to be patrolling this end n' you ain't Fuzo."

Sokka's stammering was real, but his mind was able to concoct something automatically in spite of the surprise. "L-look, I was just doing the guy a favor, he's got this girl, and..."

"A girl!? Fuzo!? Ay, ay, ay, that guy...that guy...well stay here until he gets back. That might be all night if I catch the little creep foolin' around."

The big captain walked through a door, his sweaty shuffling becoming quieter and quieter. Sokka stepped quickly to scout out the immediate area and when he returned to the stairs Azula was at the top, her face pinched into a snarl.

"This is unbelievable," she hissed. "These are the bunglers I had guarding me? Any half-competent assassin would have had me easily."

"Take it up with Zuko, later," he said, failing to add that her incarceration had been for the protection of others and not so much her.

They were met by a sergeant at the gate to the asylum, who held a torch to their faces. "Fuzo, that you? Captain's mad, man."

"Nah," Sokka said. "He sent us to find Fuzo. Poor guy's in it deep."

"Well, if you see Fuzo, maybe forget you did, y'now?" said the sergeant.

"Yeah, yeah," said Sokka, eager to be away. Wrapped in the night air, he and Azula went to where he had hidden the ostrich horse and together they rode back to the city with her clinging to him. They met two soldiers on the way back, who flagged them down.

"She showed up for her shift with a fever, thought she could tough it out," Sokka said. "You know how women can be."

One, he saw, was a woman and for a moment he thought he had made quite an error but it seemed she understood and they passed without further questions.

"What did you mean by that?" Azula asked when they were away.

"Nothing, just sometimes I think girls push themselves too far. Like they think they have something to prove."

"You're an idiot," Azula said.

They stopped at the guardhouse, which remained empty save for one possibly drunk guard, and Sokka packed his blue tunic in with Azula's straight jacket before finding a piece of paper and a bit of charcoal.

He thought a moment while Azula huffed impatiently. "I'm eager to start enjoying my freedom," she said. "This slinking about is already becoming tiresome."

"Well, if we screw it up you'll be going right back into that cell. Probably a smaller one," Sokka said as he pondered how to word his letter so only its recipients would understand it.

Going to see Yue alone. Go ahead with the party.

Katara would get it, and while she would be furious at least she would know he had not been kidnapped or assassinated. Once the note was folded and tucked between his fingers, he led Azula past his quarters where he hoped Katara was sleeping and stuck the paper in the crack of the door.

Then he ran.

"Something tells me you're going off-script," Azula said when they were near the stables.

"My sister was going to come along, but I'd rather not have to play referee between the two of you," he said.

"I'm sure. You haven't told me where we're going yet, or how we're getting there," she said.

"We're going to take a ride on Appa. When I'm convinced you're in the right mood, I'll tell you where we're going."

"Afraid I'll ditch you and head wherever it is on my own?" she asked.

"Something like that," he said.

Hearing her light footsteps behind him, he was appreciative of just how agile she was. She was stiff from her confinement, but otherwise none the worse for wear. For Sokka, it felt like he owned a polar dog that wanted to run off and bite someone as soon as he stopped paying attention.

"Hey, is one of you Fuzo?" Sokka asked when they came to Appa's stall. The bison was sleeping and in front of him were three drowsy guards.

They looked up in silence and for a long moment none spoke, but then the middle one shook his head. "No, there's no Fuzo here."

"We'll he's gone AWOl, and the captain wants him found. We'll watch Ap-after the buffalo thingy."

"We don't know Fuzo, and we don't know you," said the middle one. "And our orders are to..."

"Your orders are to split up and find Fuzo!" Azula shouted, squaring her feet and planting one hand on her hip. "Now I suggest you get going or otherwise I'll be helping the sergeant figure out how much leave leave time to deduct based on how much nap time has been going out here. Go!"

Each man perked up and left at a brisk trot. Only the middle one muttered as he left. "If you truly believe you have authority, followers will sense it," she said when the men were gone.

Appa had woken up at her shouting and was grumbling. His rumble turned menacing when his nostrils pulled in the air around Azula, and Sokka patted his nose to calm him. "It's alright, buddy, she's with me. Ready to fly? Ready to help Aang?"

The grunt from the sky bison shook sawdust from the walls and Sokka cringed as he went and pulled the pins from the manacles that held four of the bison's six feet. Ropes had been run across his tail and these Sokka cut rather than waste time untying.

Sokka had feared the bison would not obey him and would fly off on his own in search of Aang. When he did not, Sokka saw he was truly lucky in that Appa's saddle had not been removed. "Come on, up the tail," he said to Azula, leading her to the saddle. "We'll have to stop for supplies somewhere, but we can do that in the morning."

"You didn't plan this well," she said. "No matter, I'm used to being denied meals."

He frowned. She could lie as easy as she breathed, but from what he had seen of the asylum, he could believe her. Sokka stooped under a rafter and settled onto the back of Appa's neck where he found the bison's reigns. "Yip-yip," he said as loud as he dared, and the bison bellowed his assent before trotting out of the stable and rising into the air.

The night sky was a canvass of lights marred by swaths of long, dark clouds. He took his helmet off and the cool air chilled the sweat on his temples and in his hair. He looked back to see Azula had taken off her helmet, too, and was letting the breeze blow back her tangled, black locks. She removed the chest-plate she wore, and while she did not seem keen to stand on the back of the flying bison just yet, she was up as high as her knees would allow with her arms out to catch more wind.

He found the sight of her wordless joy at being free unsettling, and so focused his attention in front of him. Sokka found the pole star and headed north. When Appa yielded to his commands he settled down into the thick fur after removing his own chest-plate and making it so he could reach the boomerang he had kept hidden.

"Now will you tell me where we're going?" Azula asked, having come to the front of Appa's saddle.

"The Northern Water Tribe," he said. "We'll talk later. You should get some sleep."

"I'm not tired," she said. "I trust this animal doesn't have fleas?"

"Not unless you give them to him," Sokka said.

Her long sigh was muffled by the breeze. "This brings back memories," she said.

"Not too many, I hope," he said, urging Appa to fly faster. The bison, like Azula, was eager to be free and he flew like a comet, swaying from side to side with the air currents and grunting happily. His memories were bubbling, too, only they were coming from different places and times. As Appa flew into the dark, northern sky, Sokka tried not to think too much about how Katara would react when she found his note.

-Just don't come back empty handed, that's all you gotta do,- he thought.

**To be continued...**


	5. Chapter 4: Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

**Chapter IV**

**Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!**

Sokka had been nodding off when Azula screamed.

The bison grunted and wavered, but Sokka kept him on course as he looked back for the source of her terror. She had fallen asleep in the middle of the saddle and now sat up, breathing fast and looking around in panic. Her fear turned to anger when she realized where she was and with a scowl she laid back down.

All through the night she had been sleeping fitfully, uttering half sentences and malformed words. She woke up screaming once more, but Sokka was no less alarmed by the noise. He did not ask if she was alright.

When the sun had warmed the right side of his face and he could smell the sea, Sokka bid Appa to fly higher. He had been half asleep while holding Appa's reins, but now it was time to find a place for the bison to rest. The sun was all the way up by the time Sokka spotted a likely place. It appeared as a horizontal line, dark against the vast glittering sheet of water.

He used his telescope to survey the island. It was a few miles long with a harbor on one end and a well-managed forest running its length.

Appa had not forgotten the old routine and flew low towards an empty-looking spot of land so as not to be noticed. Sokka did not think they had much to fear from anyone, but the Avatar's sky bison always attracted attention, something he thought should be avoided.

He heard Azula moving as they landed.

"Where are we?" she asked, a yawn in her voice. "I do hope you plan on getting food in the near future."

"We're on an island somewhere, and yes, we're getting food," he said, sliding off Appa's furry neck. Azula jumped to the ground next to him, and he led Appa up a hill to a small clearing that he had seen from the air. Appa began to chomp on the overgrown grass while Sokka patted his rearmost flank.

"Are you certain your buffalo won't fly off while we're gone?" Azula asked.

"One, he's a bison, and two, he knows the drill," said Sokka, opening his knapsack. He took out his blue tunic and tossed the sack to Azula. "Your prison clothes look a little less conspicuous than that uniform."

She went behind a tree to change while he traded the soldier's uniform he wore for the tunic. Azula threw the knapsack back at him when she reappeared. "So this is how it's going to work. I'm going to do all of the talking while you pretend to be deaf and dumb. Got it?" he said.

"I'll do no such thing," Azula said, and crossed her arms. The sunlight had given her a vitality and strength she had lacked during the night, but her skin was still pale and the rings under her blazing eyes were dark. He was about to rebut her, only she spoke first. "But, it might be convenient if the rabble did not know who I am, and since a royal upbringing can be hard to disguise I'll defer to you when it comes to speaking with dirty peasants."

"Great, I'm glad we agree on something," he said, and together they walked towards the village, following a dusty cart road that went by the clearing.

It was an Earth Kingdom village, that much he had deduced from the air, but a fair number of Fire Nation people were wandering about, mostly sailors and skilled laborers. Sokka noted each nationality kept to themselves mostly, but there was no tension or hostility between them he could sense.

The first thing he bought in the bustling market was another knapsack which he handed to Azula. He gravitated towards Earth Kingdom sellers, wanting to keep Azula away from anyone Fire Nation who might have seen her before. "I'm starving," she hissed into his ear after they had purchased vitals for the journey.

"Fine, fine," he said, and they went to the harbor where a few people had set up carts to cook and sell some of the early morning's catch. He brought her to an open grill where fish and squid were being roasted on sticks. "Which one do you want?"

"You can't be serious. This food is on a stick," she said.

The vendor was an old woman with her hair done into two tight, white buns. Her mouth was in constant motion but betrayed nothing but patience. Sokka smiled politely at her and spoke to Azula through gritted teeth. "All the food comes on sticks. You don't eat the stick," he said.

"I'm aware of that, fool," she said. "I don't know where the stick has been, I don't know where these people have been. I do not eat food on sticks. Find me something else."

Sokka looked at the morsels that had been set to the cooler side of the grill to be kept warm and asked the woman for two fish on a stick rather than two squid. She smiled, took his money, and plucked the fish up with a pair of tongs. Sokka took them, wrapped them in a clean cloth, and pulled the sticks out.

"See, stick free," he said, handing her the fish. Glaring at him, she took them.

He bought another fish from the woman, which he ate slowly some distance from Azula, who picked at and studied hers as she ate. "They didn't gut it properly," she said. "And there are bones. Best hope I don't choke."

"Just chew 'em real good and you'll be fine," he said.

"When will you be telling me your full game plan?" she asked. "What's in the Northern Water Tribe that we need?"

"Information," he said. "Whatever we're up against beat some powerful benders, and if we're going after them on their own turf we can't go into it blind."

Azula smirked, making it clear to him she had a dig to take at Toph, but she left it unsaid. "I'll admit, dear Zuzu isn't completely incompetent as a firebender, and your blind friend had some earthbending talent, as does the Avatar, but those girls with the painted faces are vastly overrated."

"Mai and Ty Lee are down there, too," he said.

A long pause. "Also overrated."

Sokka finished his fish and found a fire pit to toss the stick and bones in while Azula finished her own meal. As he digested the fish, he looked out over the water while using his peripheral vision to keep a tab on the people around them who were doing their best to not be caught staring. All except one person, a teenage boy. He was Earth Kingdom, dressed in rags that hung off his thin frame like wind-wrapped flags. His chin was small and receded and Sokka thought his eyes were entirely too far apart.

"You don't care much for your brother, do you?" Sokka asked, turning his attention back to Azula.

She threw the uneaten remains of her breakfast into the fire and scowled at him. "Zuzu is weak and always has been. The only reason he's made anything of himself is because I came along to push him. This mess he's left us all in is a fine example of his sentimentality run amok."

"Keep it down," Sokka said. "We're being watched."

"Watched? By who? We couldn't have been followed this quickly."

The frog-faced boy had slipped off into the fish market and now Sokka was focusing on everyone whose face he deemed even slightly froggy, although no one else seemed to possess the right set of features to arouse his concern.

-You're just on edge,- he told himself. -She's right, there's no way anyone is after us yet.-

"We'll talk about it when we're alone, but trust me we need to be careful."

She rolled her eyes as he led her from the harbor to a market for clothes where they walked between tables piled high with red, black, yellow, and green fabrics.

"You have to go farther north to find the really good furs, but these should be alright," Sokka said, gesturing towards racks of coats and tunics. "I recommend wearing layers."

"I recommend you keep quiet when it comes to how I should dress," Azula said in a tone that nearly sent a shopkeeper's assistant running. The girl had come over to help them and was about to ask if there was anything they were looking for in particular when she realized too late what Azula was. "Girl, assist me in finding suitable clothing for colder weather. This snow savage knows nothing about how to dress."

The girl nodded, her eyes flickering to Sokka for help. All she got was a frown and a shrug. Still, he followed close behind Azula and drew most of her unpleasantness away from the hapless girl by reminding the princess of his limited funds. "You get a heavy outfit and a light one," he said, finally. "And make it light blue. We don't want to stand out, even up there."

"T-thank you, sir," said the shop girl after a little over an hour had passed and the shopping was completed. Sokka ushered Azula away and turned back to the girl with a thankful smile which was returned.

"We should be heading back to Appa, I don't like leaving him alone for too long," said Sokka.

Before they left, however, he stopped at a general store where he bought a number of miscellaneous items that only time spent traveling could teach a person they needed; things such as ropes, rags, a cooking pan, fire starter, extra water skins, needle and thread, blankets, charcoal, and tongs.

Once this was done, he jiggled his coin purse to hear the sad, depleted sound it made and wondered if he should have gotten receipts or if Zuko would be good enough to take his word for it when it came time for reimbursement. It was a silly thought, but it meant seeing Zuko again and so he entertained it before and after his argument with Azula about how to carry the supplies. She favored any method that involved her carrying nothing, but in the end he convinced her to take the balance of what he could not, and slowly they made their way to the clearing where Appa had been left.

When he saw the bison was gone, he let the supplies fall to the ground while he groped at his temples.

"A predictable setback," chimed Azula. "Next time, I'll guard the buffalo while you secure the supplies."

"Stuff it," he said, looking around in the field for signs of what might have happened. He saw Appa's big, three-toed tracks and what looked to be boot prints within them. "Someone was here."

"They still are," said Azula, pointing to a group of five men who had come out of the woods.

They were dressed like Earth Kingdom peasants, but they all had the "Outer-Maw look" as Sokka thought of it. No beards, weak chins, bulging eyes too far apart, all capped by sloped foreheads and receding hairlines. He supposed they had more of a fishy aspect to them than a froggy one, but he could not shake the impression of amphibians and expected to hear them croak at any moment.

Sokka drew his boomerang while Azula dropped what she had been carrying. "Relatives of that boy in the fish market?" she asked.

He cast a sharp glance back at her to see her smiling at him. When she turned her attention to the men, she looked like a fire hawk that had sighted a juicy mouse. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her stance had widened. -Never thought I'd be happy to see her like that,- he thought.

"Hey!" He shouted at the men, three of whom had daggers while two carried clubs. "What did you do with Appa? Don't make me beat it out of one of you."

"Yer buffurlo flew off like a chikin'," said one. "We'll ketch 'im n' we'll eat 'im. Mebbe eat yew, too."

They came running clumsily on bowed legs, and Sokka danced back to let the firebender make the first move, which was to throw a sweeping arc of blue flame that went over the grass like a scythe to hit four men in the chest and knock them over. The one that had the sense to duck in time did not stop, and Sokka hit him in the side of the neck with his boomerang, knocking him down.

Azula sprinted towards the fallen men and used her bending to propel herself into the air, from where she shot jets of blue fire from her fists. Her blue flames burned much hotter than a normal firebender's orange ones, and Sokka hated to see the effect on the downed men, even if they were enemies. Two did not rise after her onslaught, while the remaining pair rose and tore off their burning shirts while they ran into the woods.

"Was that necessary?" he asked, looking at the two smoking piles on the ground.

"Was it deserved is a better question," she said. "Anyone who attacks me with a blade has to expect such treatment."

"Yeah, well..." Sokka did not feel like this was a battle he cared to fight with her, and seeing Appa's shape circling in the sky above gave him something else to think about. He waved Appa down, and he landed just as the man Sokka had hit was coming to. "Grab him," Sokka said. "Don't hurt him."

Azula bristled at the command but followed it, at least in spirit, as she plucked up the man's knife, rolled him onto his back with her foot, then placed her knee down hard on his chest making him cough. "Struggle and I'll fillet you," she said.

"Who are you?" Sokka asked, coming over. "What do you want with us?"

The man's froggy features were less pronounced than they had been in his fellows and Sokka noted he was not sweating, despite his heavy breathing and the warm air. "I ain't tellin'. Y'all best be lettin' things be is all I'll say. Cut your losses n' such. Won't matter anyway. Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!"

Azula screamed and planted the dagger into the man's chest before Sokka could react. He shoved her off the man and knelt over him to try and stem the bleeding, but the man's pale, flabby hands yanked the blade out as he shouted another chorus of "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!"

Sokka jumped back and watched the dying man flounder, repeating his strange chant through a bloody mouth before dying.

Azula dusted herself off and readied herself for more combat with him, but Sokka tucked his boomerang into his belt and glared at her. She scowled, but did not attack. "Let's go, before those two I wounded make trouble for us."

He was speechless, but eventually was able to tell her to help him move the bodies into the woods. When this was done he loaded their supplies onto Appa while Azula did her best to incinerate the three corpses.

When Appa was in the air and over the water Sokka resumed his search for a place to land. His plan had been to rest for much of the day, but the attack had changed that. He looked back at Azula to see her sitting calmly in the rear of the saddle, irritated as though she had been forced into some chore.

He replayed the events in the clearing over and over again as they flew. They were clearly the same variety of men who had tried to kill him before, but how had they known where he'd be? Was Katara safe? These were questions he had hoped to get answers for until the man had said those words.

Sokka noted it had been the strange word, "Cthulhu" that set Azula off, something he intended to ask her about soon, for he had sighted a small, thickly wooded island devoid of any signs of habitation. An ideal spot to rest, he guided Appa down among the trees.

"Why are we stopping here?" Azula asked.

"Because Appa isn't an airship, he needs food and rest. We also need to have a little talk."

"Spare me your lectures. Anyone saying that name in that chant deserves to be exterminated."

"Name? See, that's what I mean. You know a lot more than you're letting on, and I need to know all of it."

"You want information from me? Let's trade. You first," she said, crossing her arms and turning up her chin.

They disembarked from Appa's saddle and left him to much on some low-growing shrubs as he trampled down a place to rest. Sokka found a dry, rotten log to sit upon while Azula paced before him, as domineering as she was restless.

"You remember Hoplo's journal? The one I found in the cave that had the map that led us out?" Sokka asked.

"Yes," she said. "As I recall, it contained a wealth of unpleasant information, some of it useful."

"A lot of it was useful. A lot of it didn't make any sense, and I didn't like having it around after I got back to the real world. I was thinking about burning it, but I decided I'd send it to the Northern Water Tribe instead."

Her laugh was curt and she tossed a strand of black hair from her face with a flip of her head. "It sounds like you just needed a pretext to get me away from the Fire Nation so I wouldn't get the throne while Zuzu is on vacation," she said. "Even if that's not the case, I hope you've got something better up your sleeve than that silly little journal."

It was his turn to laugh snidely. "Call it silly all you want, but here's the thing, in it Hoplo mentioned other weird writings and scrolls that seemed like they had something to do with the kooky stuff we ran into down there. I'm betting these books, or whatever, are in the library at the Northern Water Tribe's capital, and I'll bet even more there's people who've read them that we can talk to."

She pursed her lips, and considered him for a brief moment. He readied himself for a retort. "I'm impressed. That actually makes sense," she said.

He detected contempt in her tone, but she offered no other argument, just questions. "So, who was it that attacked us and how do they know that awful chant?"

Sokka squinted at her, feeling like he was playing Pai Sho with Iroh, whose favorite tactic was to make an odd move, then watch Sokka with a smile on his face while the young player doomed himself.

"Back in the Fire Nation, I was attacked by two guys," he said, and related the rest of the incident, including the name of the town where they were thought to be from.

"Outer-Maw. I should have known. They all had the look," Azula said.

Sokka blinked in surprise. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed. But the other guys were all Earth Kingdom and they're pretty far from Outer-Maw, right."

"Correct, that doesn't make sense," Azula said, her eyes narrowing as the breeze tousled loose strands of her dark hair which she she had tied into a tucked ponytail.

"No, it doesn't. Neither does you freaking out and stabbing a guy because of some weird nonsense he said. What was that all about?"

She turned away from the sea, and watched Appa sleeping. The bison was snoring in time with the lapping waves, and Sokka felt like he would need a nap himself soon, but dreaded being out while Azula was awake.

"I suppose you know by now I don't sleep very well. It's been like that since the south pole, after that blob-creature tried to absorb me."

"I remember," he said.

It had happened while he was separated from her in the ancient city. When he found her, she was naked in a dark, stone room that had been charred by her flames. The incident had led to her being unable to firebend for a time, for the thing that tried to seep into her and eat her mind had left some of itself there before she destroyed it. She had been able to access some of the creature's knowledge, and it had nearly driven her mad and doomed them both. Azula had been able to cope with it then, but it seemed to Sokka that over time it had become like an infected boil, leaking and threatening burst if picked at.

Her arms were locked across her chest, her hands nervously moving along her biceps as she continued. "It got worse after I came back. It was like I was never alone anymore. It would make me see things that weren't there, people started calling me mad behind my back. After Zuzu and your sister took advantage of my handicap, they shut me up in a cell and left me alone with it. That wretched Bin thought moving me to darker and darker places would somehow help, but it didn't. I lost track of time, and at some point the dreams took on a different character."

When her voice cracked, she dropped her pretenses and covered her face. Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but decided to keep quiet.

"I dreamed of a city," she continued. "A massive city, nothing like the one we saw with the domes under the pole. This one had twisting streets, high towers, buildings, none designed for people like me, or even you. Everything was black, greenish stone, everything covered in seaweed and coral. I always heard chanting. It was in some kind of strange language, and I listened so long somehow I knew what it meant. 'In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.'"

She said "Cthulhu" like a filthy word, which Sokka agreed that it was.

"There's that 'Cthulhu,' word," he said. "What does that weird little battle-cry of theirs mean?"

"'Yes, yes, Cthulhu dreams,' or something like that, I'm not sure. I don't know, but I know, and I don't know how I know. I sound insane!" she shouted, and began hurling fire angrily towards the sea, scorching some of the grass and shrubs between them and the sandy rocks. Appa grunted at the commotion, but remained snoozing.

"Easy, easy!" Sokka said, getting to his feet. "Calm down, you don't have to talk about it anymore. You're not the only to have weird, dreamy head problems. I had some pretty weird ones after that thing on the beach got me."

"Oh?" she said, turning one, blazing amber eye on him.

He told her about his dream, and rather than mock how tame it sounded she sat down on the ground near him, intrigued.

"One of the weird things you said back at the south pole when you were messed up was that the starfish-headed things created the blob monsters," Sokka said. "That's why I wanted to know about your dreams. The city you mentioned, you drew it on the wall of your cell?"

She picked her head up and keeping the lower half of her face hidden, looked at him with wide, amber eyes through wisps of black hair.

"And that thing with the tentacles above it was Cthulhu I'm guessing?"

"Cthulhu, in his house at R'lyeh, where my brother and your friends most likely are right now," she said, not sounding pleased.

That she was not gleeful over the notion disturbed him more than anything, and it made him hate the sound of lapping waves nearby, along with the smell of seawater a cool breeze carried. "That's just great," he said, groaning. He wished his mind would stop moving the pieces of this puzzle around, for the picture coming together was not something he wanted finished.

"There's no escape," Azula said.

"What?" How long had they sat in silence?

"There's no running from this," she said. "You were right about what you said to me before. I could go back to the Fire Nation and take my rightful place on the throne, and there I'd sit until that thing at R'lyeh decides otherwise. I'm tempted to think that would be a long time. You know these things measure centuries like we measure weeks, but something tells me it's waited as long as it cares to, and nothing is going to stop it."

He rubbed his forehead and felt thick, cold sweat. They were making a lot of assumptions, he thought, and in his mind two big puzzle pieces, the starfish-headed things and Cthulhu, were not fitting together quite right.

"Nothing can stop it, huh? Then why are bug-eyed weirdos trying to kill us? Why was Aang kidnapped? Why were the others taken?"

"Who knows? I just know that thing at R'lyeh is behind it all and whatever it is, it's beyond anything we can throw at it."

Sokka covered his mouth with his hand, and studied her. There was a slump in her shoulders put there likely by fatigue and it saddened him. "How's your leg?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow along with her head and regarded him with suspicion. "It aches in wet weather, but it's as good as ever," she said.

"Is there a scar?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Can I see it?"

"Certainly not!"

"Come on, I'm making a point here."

Her brow furrowed, but she slowly lifted her pant leg to reveal a discoloration on the shin. Sokka remembered seeing the white bone, and the blood, and monitoring it for infection for days on end. "Nice," he said. "How doomed were we back then? A thousand miles from nowhere, nothing but snow and cold, and you with a broken leg. And that was before we traded the cold for blob monsters."

She slid her pant leg back down and frowned. "Very inspirational, but I think you'll soon learn things are worse now."

Sokka was tired, but he could see some rigidness had returned to her posture. She would carry on to argue with him, it seemed. "Fair enough. I'm going to catch some Zs. Make sure nothing kills me, okay?"

He reached for a bedroll and being too sleepy to unfurl it, used it as a pillow while he slipped down next to the log and hoped no bizarre dreams would come to confuse him further.

-888-

He was less upset this time on finding himself in the body of one of the starfish-headed creatures, but his surroundings were more disorienting than they had been before. He was surrounded by darkness, only he could sense through some unknown means the area around him.

The air was impossibly thick, and he soon realized it was not air, but water. It carried vibrations better, and using them he could sense his fellows nearby. They were speaking in vibrations, but what they were saying he did not know; he only had the sense that the conversation was somehow technical in nature.

His mind bristled when he sensed the presence of something large approaching. It was a blob-creature, one of the things he had encountered before in his human body in what he wanted to say was the past. The starfish-headed things did not flee or otherwise react, but Sokka felt himself move closer to the blob and began to vibrate. The blob vibrated back then moved away in the fashion of a jellyfish.

Sokka felt himself vibrating angrily, which made the others go quiet. He calmed, and suddenly their strange, collective chatter slowly picked back up. Above them, something massive cruised by at a fantastic speed, gone as soon as it was sensed.

The vibrating started again. Sokka tried to move, but found that like before he was along for the ride. When it stopped, and Sokka relaxed he found himself able to sense more and he determined he and his fellows were discussing some kind of problem, one that they felt they could solve, but for the moment was baffling them.

What the problem was he never learned, for the giant, dark shape returned with the suddenness of a rock slide and all went dark.

-888

Something massive and black was looming over his face. Sokka shrunk from it in terror until he felt the hot breath from Appa's wet nose.

"Morning, big guy," he said, patting the bison.

"Try afternoon," said Azula, her voice prickling him awake. "If I'd known you were going to sleep all day, I would have said do it on the back of the buffalo."

"Bison, he's a bison, not a buffalo," said Sokka, sitting up and stretching, expecting to find himself bound hand and foot, but he was free.

"Is there a difference?" asked Azula.

"Thick fur, small-ish horns...uh...he flies...has six legs...sky buffalo just sounds stupid, okay?"

Azula was sitting amongst some tall grass and holding up her finger, which held a blue flame. She was watching small insects circle it. "I suppose that's true," she said, flicking her wrist and dousing her flame. "I say we leave now. I'm growing bored here, and prefer the view from up there."

"Right away, princess," he said, shaking his head to clear the sleep from it. He took his time loading Appa's saddle, goading Azula into helping through her impatience.

"Ugh. We couldn't have abducted at least one servant? She'd technically have to do whatever I said, you know," said Azula as she carried her half of their supplies.

"I'd rather take care of myself, actually," said Sokka.

"As if you had a choice," she said, seating herself at the front of Appa's saddle while he rested behind the bison's neck and took the reins. "I'll confess, while it's no dragon, you're flying sky-beast is much more fun to ride than an airship."

"You've ridden a dragon?" Sokka said, before jostling the reins and shouting "Yip-yip!"

Appa rose into the air almost vertically and turned himself north. Sokka thought they would be flying over a long stretch of Earth Kingdom soon, then the arctic sea where he would look for a long strip of white to follow east in search of the Northern Water Tribe's capital.

"A dragon? No, of course not," Azula said, their conversation having been suspended while Appa rose. "I always wanted to, though."

"I heard your people hunted them to extinction," said Sokka.

"My uncle killed the last ones. Hard to believe considering the man he is now."

"You can say that again," Sokka said.

"Just how does he plan to keep the peace in the Fire Nation with me disappearing?" she asked. He could sense she was leaning over the saddle, probably doing her best to look casual even though no one could see her.

-What's the harm in telling her?- he thought, and pursed his lips knowing the question answered itself. "He said this way was best, that's all I know."

She laughed, high and healthy with delight. "We're going to have a lot of fun on this trip, I can tell. Well, if you won't come clean on your political machinations, do tell me what had you so upset while you were sleeping."

Sokka pursed his lips again but felt like water was being forced out his mouth. When it came to this, their secret, there was no stopping it. Azula was the only person he could share it with, after all. He told her about his dream in as much detail as he could, even as it faded from his memory.

"You sleep better than me," she said, and her hand fell on his shoulder.

He almost leaped off Appa, but once he realized he was not being attacked he settled down while Appa offered up an annoyed grunt. "Something wrong?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"Don't touch me, ever," he said. "Okay, so we helped each other out once and we're helping each other now. Fine, great, but a lot happened after that and I don't trust you at all. Got it?"

"No, I don't get it," she said, sounding genuinely put out. "If you don't trust me why am I here?"

"You're here because I don't trust you to be somewhere else," he said. "Just go organize our supplies. And bring me a map." He hoped his commands would annoy her, get her talking about how he was a peasant and had no right to speak to her so.

"Fine," she said. "I don't much care if you trust me or not, but it wouldn't be wise to hold back when it comes to our...private matters. We need to pool our information, otherwise we really don't stand a chance."

"Gotcha," he said, wishing she would stop talking or say something ugly. When he heard her doing as he asked and felt the rolled up map tap him on the shoulder, he thanked her then listened to the clink and rustle of their gear being sorted as Appa cruised over warm, glittering water.

**To be continued...**


	6. Chapter 5: Nekka

**Chapter V.**

**Nekka**

When Sokka finally saw the long, icy coastline of the Northern Water Tribe he kept Appa on course, wanting to be closer before striking east towards the capital. He and Azula had donned their thick clothes at their last stop, and atop Appa's warm back they were well protected from the biting winds of the northern sky. The only trouble for them was their respective dreams. Sokka's did not disturb his rest, but the dim memory of them consumed his waking hours; as did Azula's somnambulant screams and utterances.

She slept easier in the daylight and they adjusted their schedules accordingly. One evening, before he went to sleep, Sokka got curious. "So, do you dream about Cthu..."

"Don't say it!" she had snapped. "Unless you have to, don't ever say that name."

Sokka had the childish urge to make it a regular part of his vocabulary for her benefit, but he agreed with her. He wondered if she simply did not like the sound of it or if she thought it held some mystical power by being uttered. He hoped desperately that there was a man with a long white beard in the Northern Water Tribe who had been studying these things in obscurity his entire life and would be eager to talk.

For a moment he wondered if he would see Master Pakku, but remembered the man was in the Southern Water Tribe. That was probably for the best, he decided, even though it would be nice to see a somewhat friendly face in the lonely north.

As the icy stretch of land loomed closer, Sokka thought of Yue to insulate his spirit from the cold wind that was blistering it. His time with her had been brief and it was not enough to ward off the thought of how long Suki, Aang, Toph, and the others had been missing. Sokka could not help but wonder what he would do if the Northern Water Tribe held nothing for him. Going back to the Fire Nation now would mean spilling himself before the people he had lied to and to make it worse he would have Azula with him, a physical embodiment of his betrayal.

He suddenly got the impression she was watching him, and so he turned his head sharply hoping to catch her in the act. She was looking over Appa's flank to the south. He wondered if she missed her home, but thought it more likely she missed being in charge of everyone. Maybe both.

"What are you staring at?" she asked, one of her amber eyes having caught him.

Sokka, startled, looked back over Appa's furry, round head. "Nothing," he said. "We should get there in another day tops, in case you were wondering."

They flew in silence for a while longer, and as twilight started to show itself in the east and Appa's tiny shadow on the water became elongated, Sokka began to look for an island or iceberg to settle down on. Appa seemed up to the task of flying for many more hours, but Sokka did not wish to search for land on a tired bison at night, nor did he wish to put down on the mainland just yet. Given their last unexpected encounter with strange frog-faced men, some isolation was best.

"Over there," Azula said. Sokka looked and saw nothing but bruise-colored water. He told her as much. "No, look at the sky, dummy."

There were several black shapes winding their way in the wind like snakes through grass. Before he could say, "Flying snakes?" they were close enough for him to see the truth. His throat went dry, and he croaked, "Appa! Yip-yip!" while gripping the bison's reins.

Appa's legs shifted and his large body narrowed to better pass through the air. Sokka fumbled for the small telescope he kept in his tunic and tried to get a better look at the winding, gliding things. Flat bodies and claws were all he could make out.

"I'll deal with this, Boomerang Boy, you just keep the buffalo on course," shouted Azula.

"Boomerang Boy!? And he's a bison!"

He had his boomerang free, but had no plans to throw it at anything while over the ocean. The memory of his lost space sword hurtling towards the ground over the Earth Kingdom was still a painful one and it was only now he realized he had not packed his war club.

Appa could not out-fly the things as they cruised and swooped, treating the laws of aerodynamics as a formality. Sokka tried to make sense of them by drawing analogies like centipede, tapeworm, and bat, but nothing truly fit.

Blue streaks of energy suddenly cut through the air. The bright arcs happily danced through one of the creatures and jumped to another flying close by, causing it to twitch but not fall. The one Azula had hit with her lightning dropped, leaving streaks of black smoke as the others surrounded Appa.

Sokka ducked to avoid the lightning and blue fire that filled the air. Two of the things landed on either side of him and he almost jumped from Appa's back to escape.

When one tried to envelope him, Sokka overcame the urge to implode with revulsion and ducked, shoving the monster into the other only to have a third come from behind and catch him. "Hey!" he shouted, wrapped in its patagia and feeling hundreds of hooks and claws digging into his back. He was lifted lifted upward somehow, his struggles only driving the sharp hooks and teeth in deeper into his skin.

"Let me go! Let me go!" he shouted until he saw he was now a few thousand feet above the icy sea with no Appa beneath him. "Don't let me go! Put me back, then let me go!"

He was trying to twist around to see if Appa was coming to save him when something hot struck the creature. Stunned, Sokka realized he was falling. He clutched his boomerang tight and hoped what he had heard about water surface tension had been exaggerated.

The air was suddenly knocked from his lungs and his boomerang went sliding across Appa's saddle. The bison had come through for him, much to his sudden elation. Coughing, he rose to his knees and reached for it, only to have Azula's boot come down lightly on his hand, pinning it. She stood over him, blue flames in both palms with a grin on her face. "No need, I got them all," she said, taking her foot off him and letting her flames die.

"What were those things?" Sokka asked, shaking himself violently to be rid of the creeping sensation he felt before he took Appa's reins and steering him back towards the northern coast.

"I have no idea, but I bet I know who sent them," she said. "I was expecting minions less...pitiful."

"Yeah, pitiful if you can shoot lightning. You got them all, I hope?"

She took a moment to respond. "One may have slipped away."

"Great, now they'll know to bring more next time."

"Then we'd best get where we're going that much faster," she said, her voice like a whip. "Don't assume there aren't more nearby."

"I won't," he said, a sudden giddiness overtaking him.

"What's the matter with you? If that thing had flown a few more feet it would have been out of my range and you'd be doomed or worse."

"Yeah, that's freaky, but don't you see? They've stepped up their game. They really don't want us going to the Northern Water Tribe."

Her overly derisive snort betrayed her. "You think this is evidence that there's something there? Perhaps they're just vindictive."

In response Sokka mumbled something she could not hear and went back to guiding Appa, although the bison needed little help. He remembered the Water Tribe capital and how to get there, even if they were approaching from a different angle than their first visit years before. He encouraged Appa to fly low in the hope they would be hard to see by any more flying monsters, but he kept a watch to the south all the same.

-888-

The walls of the Northern Water Tribe capital glowed a soft blue in the starlight. Sokka tugged Appa's reins, making him veer towards the top of the ice wall that surrounded the city on every side but the sea. The guards at their posts scurried into action, but calmed down once they realized it was the Avatar's bison descending.

"Hey!" said one of the guards as Sokka slid from Appa's neck to the ground. "You're Sokka, right? The boomerang guy?"

"The one and only," he replied as Azula landed behind him. "Sorry we didn't send word ahead, but I was hoping Chief Arnook would let us crash here for a while?"

"We'll ask, but I don't see why he wouldn't," said the guard. "Step this way and we'll get everything sorted out."

The guard and his fellows were baldly curious about where the Avatar was, but none of them actually said anything about it as they led Sokka and Azula down a set of stone steps and through a maze of long, square hallways, mostly built from ice and stone. Azula walked behind him with her hood up and was attracting stares from the few guards they passed.

Their destination was a tiered building atop a long flight of steps that overlooked the entire city which Sokka could not help but glance back at. The ice covered walls sucked up the light from the stars and sliver of moon and reflected it, making it so there was almost no need for sidewalk lamps save for the lower streets where shadows lived in patches.

Sokka looked up at the moon, the only familiar and friendly face he expected to see aside from perhaps Chief Arnook.

"Watch where you're going," whispered Azula. "You didn't tell me everything here was made from ice. It's a wonder anyone in this country can even walk."

"The waterbenders make it so it's rough and easy to walk on," said one of the guards. "First time to the Northern Water Tribe?"

"She had a bad fall a few years ago and she's paranoid. Women, you know?" said Sokka, not wanting Azula to speak if she did not have to. As predicted the guard laughed and nodded. Sokka thought Azula's glare alone would cause the ice to melt, but she kept silent and soon they were inside the dimly lit temple. A middle-aged woman, who introduced herself as the temple's majordomo, greeted them happily, but with some confusion.

"You must be Sokka," she said. "I remember you. Is the Avatar...?"

"It's just us. We're on a mission for him, very urgent. I was wondering if I could talk to Chief Arnook. Uh...tomorrow morning would be alright, but early, if that's okay."

"He may still be awake now, actually," the woman said. "Since the Battle of the North Pole he's taken to moon-gazing. I'm sure you understand."

Sokka did, more so than he cared to let on. The majordomo left them to wait in the company of two guards. "Perhaps they think I'm your sister," Azula said, standing close and whispering into his ear.

"Not likely. She made a pretty big impression on everyone here, they'd remember her pretty well."

Arnook entered with the majordomo following behind him. His long face had more creases than the last time Sokka had seen him and his black hair sported some gray near the roots.

"Greetings, Sokka," Arnook said, holding out his arms. The two exchanged a friendly greeting and Arnook dipped his head towards Azula. "It's been too long. Ralla here tells me you're on a mission from Avatar Aang?"

"Yeah. It's kinda secret though, so..."

"Oh? I see," said Arnook, rubbing his chin. "Who is your friend?"

"Oh, this is..."

Azula grabbed his arm and pressed herself against him. "Mai Lee. He's my boyfriend."

"Oh, a Fire Nation girl," said Arnook, his brow furrowing while Sokka's stomach and head tried to change places. "I assume you plan to stay awhile, so I'll have a room prepared, your bison cared for, and your things stored." As he spoke, the two guards and Ralla left. Arnook led Sokka and Azula up a set of stairs where a raised platform serves as his throne. Beneath it were fur and cushion covered benches and seats, which he bid his guests to sit on. Arnook himself chose to sit at the foot of his throne, owing to the informal circumstances.

"Can you tell me anything about why the Avatar has sent you?" he asked.

Sokka cleared his throat, still trying to settle from Azula's impromptu proclamation. "Well, you might remember I had a book sent to you a few years ago. It was pretty old, so I figured you'd give it to the library. I need it back and I need to talk to some smart guys about it.

"Smart guys?"

Azula coughed and let down her hood as she shifted in her seat to be closer to the chief. "The book he's talking about was a journal. It detailed a subject of interest to the Avatar and we would like to recover it as well as speak with any scholars who might be knowledgeable on what it contains," she said.

"And what subject matter would that be?" asked Arnook, leaning forward.

"It involves an ancient form of bending. The Avatar used it to defeat the Fire Lord, and would like to expand his knowledge of it. He feels it has great potential," said Azula.

"Does he now? Well, I do remember getting the book, and I did pass it along to the librarians at the Great Library. We call it a library, but it's more of a school. It's not as large as the University of Ba Sing Se, but we boast a more...esoteric collection. At least I'm told. I'll confess I never had much to do with book learning, not that I don't respect it."

"Then we would only ask permission to stay in your fair city and have access to the library," said Azula.

"I'll instruct the scholars there to make time for you, but you'll be under their rules and schedule," he said, his dark face wrinkling. When they nodded, he smiled. "Had you sent word ahead we would have had dinner put out for you. I'll personally escort you to your room. It's late, but I find a walk puts me in the mood for sleep."

Sokka thanked Arnook profusely until Azula nudged him. Quietly, he thanked the universe for not throwing more obstacles at them.

Arnook took them out of the throne room where they found Ralla, and went to a dome-shaped building overlooking the sea. It was a guest house for royals, but given how isolated the Northern Water Tribe had been for so many years it was rarely used, according to Chief Arnook.

Inside was some of their gear and a few items of furniture. One bed, Sokka noted, as Arnook and Ralla bid them good evening and told them to come to the high chamber when they were ready to visit the library in the morning.

"I'll stone, knife, scroll you for the bed," said Sokka when he and Azula were alone. The bed looked inviting in the gloom and was covered briefly in a blue hue as Azula's fire ignited a lamp, which then burned a natural yellow.

Azula removed her coat and boots, then laid down on the bed. "We're both adults," she said. "Lay down and go to sleep."

He removed his boots and heavy coat and laid down as far from her as he could get, not wishing to spend a night on the hard floor or on a bedroll if he did not have to, even if it meant sleeping next to Azula.

"Boyfriend and girlfriend, huh?"

"It made more sense than brother and sister," she said, as she tossed and turned. "Besides, I've heard a thing or two about this place and I figured they would pay me less notice if they thought I was attached to you somehow."

Sokka made a noncommittal sound. She was right, but now his cheek where she had kissed him years before burned. He had felt it for much longer than the wound she put on his neck, which had left a small scar.

"You're dying to talk about how I said goodbye to you at the south pole, aren't you?" she said, freezing him where he lay. Could her brain problems have given her the ability to read minds? How long had he been touching his face?

"Actually, I don't think much about it," he said.

"Liar," she said. "I assumed boys liked being thanked by girls with kisses, but I also didn't want you thinking we were friends."

"Oh, I understood you perfectly, and if I didn't then you made it pretty clear afterward."

"Good, and since that was all years ago, why don't we call a truce here and now."

His eyes had closed and he felt heavy all over, too heavy to verbally spar with her now. "Yeah, sure, truce," he said.

She sighed and turned on the bed causing it to shake. "That's not good enough. I want it understood that I'm not planning some betrayal. We have a common enemy, one that has to be beaten before anyone can have what they want. I wouldn't risk defeat by stabbing you in the back."

He rolled over to face her. A vast expanse of seal fur lay between them, and he grinned. "It's cool you suddenly think we can win, but what you really mean by truce is you want me to trust you, right?"

"Yes," she said, preparing herself for his counter blow.

"Well, here it is. I trust you won't kill me in my sleep. I trust you won't run off in the night. I trust that you'll be helpful and quiet, all while looking for some kind of opening or opportunity where you can come out on top in the end. I trust you to be you, Princess Azula."

Her look soured and while he just wanted to sleep he could not resist going further. "See, trust is a lot like a flower," he said, having fun now. "You can plant the seed, give it good soil, but only time can make it grow."

She took his smarmyness more gracefully than he had hoped. "If you act right and don't try to screw me over, I'll start to trust you," he continued. "And when the flower of trust blooms between us I won't forget that it's still a cobra lily and could kill me if I let my guard down. How's that for a trusting truce?"

"You're a jerk," she said, and rolled over.

Grinning silently he rolled onto his back. The stillness of the night had a sound to it, the blood in his ears pulsing with the tides and the distant, lapping of the cold sea. It was a quiet night in the Northern Water Tribe's capital, but Sokka thought he could hear violin music. It was a familiar, haunting tune that left him uneasy but tired.

As sleep came, Sokka reminded himself that Azula was as talented a liar and manipulator as she was a firebender, for he did indeed feel like a jerk.

-888-

Sokka was back in the strange body he did not control or understand. Before him were black, oozing shapes seeping between massive stone blocks, moving them according to some direction Sokka felt he had given. It was dark where he was and the pressure around him enormous. The oozing masses before him had minds like their bodies, pliant, malleable, yet stalwart when set to a task. He could feel another presence close by, perhaps in the same body he now occupied. They were separated by a membrane, one he could pushed against but could not break. He hated the feeling and struggled to be free, only it was like trying to tear a thought from his head. Sokka was formless, yet rooted to where he was.

The ooze before him was vibrating, the blocks were sliding. He felt himself vibrate louder, trying to cow the ooze into compliance. When he began to spin and rise upward, he thrashed about in another bid for freedom but found only inky blackness.

-888-

Azula was shaking him. "Up, fool, before something tries to thwart us again," she said.

She was standing next to the bed dressed in a blue tunic. Her hair had been combed and she wore it in high knot, pinned with a blue ornament that made her look strange to him, and hopefully unrecognizable to anyone in the Northern Water Tribe who might take issue with Princess Azula wandering the streets.

Azula had done her best to make herself look good, but the asylum years clung to her like mold and she had not slept well.

"Let's get some breakfast, first. I don't feel like searching for ancient, forbidden knowledge on an empty stomach," he said.

"Nor do I," she said to his surprise. They went to the large dining room where he, his sister, and Aang had once eaten. The décor had been changed since then, but the nostalgic feeling the room created was distracting as he ate his tiger seal steaks and spiced blubber cubes.

"You know, had we conquered this place the food certainly would have improved," said Azula, shoveling her blubber chunks onto Sokka's plate. He narrowed his eyes, but ate them all the same.

"This is spiced blubber, you can't get this in the Southern Water Tribe," he said.

"I'm glad to hear it's isolated," she said. "If you're done, let's find that irritating handmaiden and have her show us the library."

She pushed her plate away and stood, leaving Sokka to scarf as much blubber as he could and skewer a few cubes on sticks so he could snack on them while walking. They found Ralla easily and she greeted Sokka warmly while being polite to Azula.

The Great Library, as it was locally known, was far from the water, past a series of canals and icy walkways, and nestled between two glacial walls. Its entrance was a giant archway set into the ice wall after a series of stone steps. Sokka looked up as they went under to see a balcony ran along the top and disappeared into the glacier.

Inside, the air was cool and dry to the point where Sokka felt his skin itch.

"Many of the books and scrolls kept here are on paper, of course, so to prevent them from decaying we keep the moisture in this building to a minimum. I'm told that centuries ago, airbenders would sometimes assist us in removing the oxygen from a room completely where particularly valuable collections were stored. These days many of the scribes spend their days copying old texts onto newer, more durable materials," said Ralla as she took on the air of a tour guide, strolling ahead of them and making sweeping gestures with her arms.

"Fascinating," Azula said, her voice as dry as the air.

Past another door they came to a room that made Sokka feel like he was truly in a library. There was a stone desk, behind which stood many books, and behind that a large set of stairs leading up into shadows. A long hall stretched away from them in both directions, it too lined with books. People in blue robes and tunics moved about, barely looking up from their work to look at the newcomers.

Ralla went up to a counter where a man stood preoccupied with a list. His massive egg-shaped head rested above slouched shoulders, and he was constantly moving his long, white beard out of his way.

He squinted at Ralla and peered closer, recognizing her when he was inches away. "Oh, are they here already?" he said, his voice like dry paper.

Ralla nodded patiently and made a sweeping gesture towards her charges. "Misso, this is Sokka, and his lady friend, Mai Lee," she said.

As they exchanged formalities, Sokka and Azula learned they had to strain their ears to hear Misso's voice in the echo-proof rooms of the Great Library. He was excited to see them, and Sokka became oddly anxious when he realized the old man knew exactly what Hoplo's journal was all about.

"I only recently had a chance to examine it," Misso said, coming around the counter and attracting looks from other scholars who rarely saw him excited about anything. "Chief Arnook had it sent here long ago as I'm sure you're aware, and I would have seen to it then, but an earthquake damaged several deep storage chambers and that absorbed so much of my time it seems I forgot all about the journal. I feel so foolish, especially given its contents! To think, the lost expedition..."

Azula cleared her throat loudly. "Perhaps we could speak of this in private?"

Misso looked confused for a moment, but then his eyes widened. "Oh, yes, yes, of course, how foolish of me," he said. "Right this way, young ones."

They soon found themselves upstairs in a small room where Misso kept hundreds of scrolls piled around a desk. "Ralla, could you please send for Nekka?" asked Misso, before the majordomo had left.

When they were alone, Misso doddered around to sit at his desk where he located a pair of spectacles. "I must say, you can't know how disturbing it was to read that journal. At the very least, it's the product of a broken mind. At worst...the implications are profound when taken in context."

"Well, you see..."

"Must we keep reminding you people that our mission is a secret one, on behalf of the Avatar himself?" said Azula, cutting Sokka off. "Where it was found is none of your concern. I take it you read the entire thing?"

"Of course," said Misso, his words becoming easier to understand the more comfortable he became. "And I'll dare say that I know more about what was written in it than you do, young lady."

"Oh, I doubt that very much," said Azula.

Rather than take offense Misso chewed thoughtfully on his lip as he studied them. "Forgive me for pointing this out, but in my years here I've seen faces like yours. They belonged to young, foolish scholars who delved into ancient knowledge they later came to regret delving into."

"What of it?" said Azula, prompting Sokka to nudge her with his foot.

"I meant no offense, but since I know a great deal about things you likely only having a passing familiarity with, I'd advise you to stop being so hostile. 'Lose the attitude,' is the popular phrase for it these days, I believe."

Sokka could not help but smile, but made sure Azula could not see him do it.

"You talk to him," she said. "Perhaps you two think alike."

Bowing his head in deference and apology to the old man, he stepped forward and prepared to lie. "I bought the journal off a trader in the Southern Water Tribe," said Sokka. "He had a bunch of ruined scrolls and books he was selling as fire starters, but I noticed this thing was readable so I didn't toast it."

"Ah, I see," said Misso, his frown making him look much older. "Well, it's a good thing you saved it. Perhaps you deduced that it belonged to a man named Hoplo, but you might be surprised to know it's over two-hundred years old. Hoplo was a scholar who took part in an expedition to the farthest reaches of the southern continent. It was quite a famous endeavor at the time, for it involved scholars and benders from all four nations. Many hopes were placed on it, but when it became clear that it would not be returning it put a bit of a damper on exploration into such extreme environments and by the time the great war broke out it was all but forgotten."

"You seem very interested now," said Azula. "Who else knows about what that journal contains?"

Misso rubbed his throat rather than cough and glared at her over his spectacles. "I and one other person have read it since it came here. It's possible that journal lends credibility to some very outlandish ideas about the nature of the world we live in, and if that's the case and it's not the product of a fevered mind that spent much of its life reading certain ancient writings, then the less people who see it, the better." He took a deep, rasping breath to compose himself and Sokka saw he had begun to sweat.

"You see," he continued, "This library boasts a collection of rare works that many scholars at Ba Sing Se University have scarcely heard about. We withhold access to certain tomes and tablets from all but the most hard-minded and sober of scholars. Hoplo spent his life reading writings that have spawned all manner of bizarre and twisted cults across the world. His journal can now be considered such a document, and therefore is dangerous in the wrong hands."

Sokka did not speak right away and hoped Azula would keep quiet until he thought of how to best proceed. He could sense her impatience as he studied Misso's face. Did the man suspect they were lying about why they wanted the journal?

"No disrespect, sir, but I don't think Hoplo was completely nuts when he wrote his journal. I'm with you, this is dangerous stuff. We get that, believe me, but we came here because we need to know more about what's written in there. The books Hoplo mentioned, the city he mapped out, what's a shoggoth..."

The word "shoggoth" hit Misso like a whip. He blanched and placed his hands flat on his desk. With quivering lips, he spoke. "Boy, you had best pray you have no cause to learn what a shoggoth is. It in itself is a terror beyond comprehension, but there are things more terrible still that its existence would imply. I doubt Avatar Aang knows what he's delving into here, not if he merely sent emissaries."

"He's up to his head-arrow in avatar stuff, plus I'm the one who found the journal."

"Bought it, you said?"

"Found it, then bought it," said Sokka. "I'm a book worm, what can I say?"

"Are you now?" Misso leaned forward, and despite the terror he was shaking with Sokka could see a spark in him. This man had spent a lot of time reading books he likely now wished he had not, and it reminded Sokka of old men who perhaps wished they had not enjoyed drink so much in their younger days, but were now powerless to give it up.

Seeing that Sokka was studying him, Misso sat back and collected himself. "I regret that I did not chance to meet you and your sister when you were here during the war, but you've become quite popular ever since. I heard about your trouble over the south pole, near the war's end."

"Ah, it wasn't that bad. People like to blow things out of proportion," said Sokka, feeling as though the room had become hotter.

"That they do," Misso said. "Even if you are Southern Water Tribe, the young men around here hold you in high esteem. More so your sister, but given that we all thought the Avatar dead, news of your apparent death over the pole was taken quite hard."

"I'm honored people cared so much," said Sokka, wondering what the old man had heard about their south pole adventure. It seemed the farther one traveled, the more outlandish the tales got. He had always found it funny that the strangest were never as odd as the truth.

"Well, you should have been here when the news reached us that you had survived. It was not as much a hullabaloo when we learned the Avatar remained with us also, but to be sure, everyone was talking about it. When did you purchase this journal?"

Sokka knew what was happening now, and he wondered why he did not simply tell the old man the truth, for he seemed to know most of it already.

-He only suspects.-

Sokka was startled by the sudden thought, as though someone else had said something in his mind, using his voice. It was true, Misso had said himself that Hoplo's journal could be the product of a person who had gone insane while getting lost in the dark.

"It was right around then, actually. I ended up in a fishing village after I parted ways with Princess Azula and met the trader."

"I see. I hear she's insane now. Perhaps she always was."

Sokka cringed, waiting for Azula to take the bait and explode. He chanced a sideways glance and saw her sitting easy, looking bored and impatient. -Good, cool as a sea cucumber.-

"You know, I didn't think she was so bad. She was kinda stuck up and a little homicidal, but she had a lot of stuff dumped on her at once, and her brother was a little harsh on her when he became Fire Lord."

Misso seemed ready to launch another line of probing questions, or perhaps a full accusation, when there was a knock on the door. "Enter, enter," he said. "Ah, Nekka. And you've brought it, good girl, good girl."

Sokka and Azula turned to see a thin, pale woman about their age with eyes the color of gray sea ice. She wore a plain blue tunic and a pointed hat that covered her long, brown hair which she wore loose around her shoulders. Sokka got goosebumps upon seeing what she clutched in her hands. It was Hoplo's journal, a collection of paper encased in leather that he owed his life to. "Sifu Misso, you wished to see me?"

"Yes," Misso said, his kinder demeanor asserting itself. "These are the two who recovered Hoplo's journal and had it sent here. Sokka and...Mai Lee was it? This is Nekka, Hoplo's descendant."

"He was my great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather," said Nekka, counting her "greats" on her fingers while looking up. "I assumed whatever chronicle he wrote of his last adventure was lost. Where did you find it?"

"I bought it from a guy in the south pole," said Sokka. "I can't get into why, but I need to know more about what's in it."

"Sokka here believes it may not be complete nonsense, although as he says he's not keen on divulging why he believes this," said Misso.

Nekka knuckles turned white against the book leather. "R-really!? Oh, you must tell me!" She turned red all of a sudden, and sat down on a chair that had been hidden by stacks of parchment. "I'm sorry, it's just my ancestor was a respected scholar in this field of ancient history, and to know for certain there's something to those old stories..."

"Nekka," said Misso, his voice sharp with reproach. "Remember yourself. Fantastic claims require fantastic amounts of proof."

"Which we wouldn't talk about even if we had it," snapped Azula. "I keep telling you, we're here to get information, not give it."

Misso sneered and steepled his fingers. "You're in a rather poor position to be holding such an attitude. I have half a mind to toss both of you out of this library this instant, but you appear to know something that I'd very much like to be aware of myself."

Again, Sokka thought of an old drunk who knew better but had no choice. He supposed he could appreciate being drawn to destructive things. "Sifu Misso, forgive Mai Lee here. Fire Nation girls are, well, fiery. I'd love to tell you everything, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I did. Avatar Aang..."

"Yes, yes," interrupted Misso, calming himself but becoming no less curious. "It was relayed to me that the Avatar seems to think there's some bending knowledge to be gleaned here. I doubt that very much, but perhaps if we knew more about what the Avatar thinks he knows we could offer more assistance."

"It looks like we're not going to get anywhere unless there's a little back and forth," Sokka said to Misso, mostly for Azula's benefit. He had the old man's tight attention, and could hear Nekka's breathing.

"You have to promise me one thing first." Sokka waited until he saw the old man nod. "What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room. You don't tell Chief Arnook, you don't tell any of your bookworm friends, and you don't write it down anywhere it can be read, got it?"

"Yes, of course," said Misso, too quickly Sokka thought.

Azula did not look pleased, but neither was she objecting.

"I didn't buy the journal from a paper trader. I got it from the pocket of a mummy I found in a cave under a mountain in the south pole." The temperature in the room felt like it had dropped to that of outside, while Misso's face became even paler. "Trust me when I tell you, what's in Hoplo's journal isn't made up nonsense. I don't want to say more, because I don't want anyone ever going there and stirring stuff up. Understand?"

"Yes, of course," said Misso, shifting in his seat suddenly before rising. "I can promise you this will remain between the four of us. I hope you share more, for such knowledge can be a terrible burden and these hallowed halls can act as a kind of tomb for them. I must meditate on what little we've talked about, but Nekka here knows as much as I when it comes to this specific field of study. Just keep in mind her propensity to get carried away with herself and she should help you as much as you need. Nekka, you will do this? Good. Make sure you see me again before you leave the capital."

He left the room like a piece of dust buffeted by a draft, leaving them all bewildered. Sokka clapped his hands together. "So," he said, brightly. "Maybe we should do this over tea? Nice and relaxing, right?"

"Um, tea, yes," said Nekka, looking at the door. "Um...maybe we should go to my house? The books you might want to examine have to be scheduled for viewings ahead of time, but I'm familiar with many."

"That sounds like a great idea," said Sokka.

"Did you have to tell him so much?" asked Azula when they had left the library with their new companion, who had gone several yards ahead of them in the Great Library's long shadow. "I thought we decided it was best to keep this all secret for as long as we could."

"I didn't tell him that much," Sokka said.

"Ha! You gave him the only thing he needed. Did you see how quickly he left once he had it? How do we know he's not an enemy?"

Sokka let that roll around in his mind for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. "We had to tell him something. You can't expect to take from people all the time without giving a little, you know?

"No," Azula said to annoy him.

A bell rang from behind them, and it was answered by another bell, and then another, all part of a chain leading into the city.

Nekka cast a worried glance at the library, and dropped back to walk between her companions. The bell seemed to be an alarm of some kind. "I hope it's nothing serious," Sokka said.

"It's to summon healers," said Nekka. "Seems somebody falls off a ladder or twists an ankle every other week. Many scholars are elderly, you know." She turned her head and body towards Sokka, forgetting the alarm. "Sifu Misso and I actually disagree on a few things regarding these topics. I'll explain them when we get to my house, but..."

As she spoke a small group of guards and healers came running past them with grim expressions on their faces. Nekka stopped and turned towards the library, and they all saw a group of people come rushing from there, their faces pulled into alarm and shock as they met the healers.

The trio retraced their steps and saw crowd near the library entrance several hundred yards distant.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" asked Sokka, pulling aside one of the people who had come running out.

The woman tugged away from him, but soon recognized his face. "A man fell from the top of the Great Library," she said.

Sokka cocked an eyebrow. Given all the ice, Northern Water Tribe people typically took more precautions than most when it came to ledges.

When the reached the base of the tower they saw the healers gathered around a pile of blue robes while guards pushed people back. The color of the ice told everyone that the healers were there for show. Someone called for a litter and a blanket.

Nekka was crying. Sokka put his hand on her shoulder as though she were a hot fire only to have her pull away and crouch to better cover her face. The moment stretched on and Sokka sought some refuge in Azula. She only looked irritated and a little puzzled, but when her eyes flickered to him there was something else. It was enough for Sokka, and they stood by Nekka until her sifu's body was taken away.

-888-

Nekka's house was a modest dome-shaped building on the edge of a market where, if the wind was right, one could smell the sea. The home was tucked between two larger buildings with the entrance was down a narrow alleyway. It had taken a long time to get Nekka moving, and she had cried the entire way.

They all sat on the floor around a small, circular table. Sokka made the tea and whispered to Azula that it might be best if she remained silent as much as possible.

"We're sorry about what happened," he said, after they had all been sitting in relative quiet for half an hour. "We didn't mean to show up and cause pain."

"I know," Nekka said between sobs. "It's just...why? It makes no sense."

This set off another stretch of crying. Sokka wished now he had brought Katara, for she would know precisely how to handle this while all he could do was look properly upset, which he was, and hope Azula kept her mouth shut.

As Nekka wept, Sokka had time to think. When she was calm again, he spoke softly. "We didn't tell you guys everything before, obviously, but maybe it's time we did."

"Of course, it's all very secret," Nekka said, the venom in her voice surprising both her guests.

"Yes, and it still has to stay a secret. You'll see why when I'm done. I'm telling you so you don't think we're the world's worst people by asking for your help after all that's happened."

Despite his plea, the look of hate she wore for him was unsettling and made him talk fast. He told her what happened to the Avatar, and to the Fire Lord, and their other friends. He talked about the dreams, the imparted memories, he told her of Cthulhu and R'lyeh. He told her that he knew what Hoplo had written was true because he had confirmed it all with his own eyes.

Her anger was replaced by a blank stare as he told his story. She believed him, clearly, but was unable to react beyond sipping her tea and looking at the table.

"That's a very disturbing story," she said, after a long pause once Sokka finished. "I can see why you want to keep it secret. Let me guess, you wanted to come here, find some way to save those who were taken, then sweep everything under the carpet with the world none the wiser?"

"Yep," Sokka said, wondering why it only sounded stupid when other people said it.

She continued with her tea and her examination of the table, which was made from a blackened, swirled wood that Sokka found unsettling to look at. "You won't like anything I have to tell you," she said. "If Cthulhu is not only real but moving towards some goal, it's not something we have the power to stop."

"I think you're wrong there," said Sokka, and told her about the froggy men who had attacked them, and the flying horrors. Nekka listened with rapt attention, but was now keeping an eye on one of her small windows. "Now why would they be so keen to stop us if there's nothing we could do?"

"I don't know. All I can tell you is what Cthulhu is, or what it's said to be."

"That's better than nothing," said Azula.

Nekka set down her tea cup, having drained most of it. She grew animated, for despite everything she had suffered this was her passion.

"As you've likely deduced, humans were not the first beings to rule this planet. Most sources agree that beings called the Old Ones were the first to arrive. It's thought that they came from other planets like ours, floating amongst the stars. Their bodies, and to a large extent their minds, are nothing like our own. I believe what you saw on that beach was an Old One."

"Old One," Sokka said, the term sending chills down his back.

"You have to understand, the Old Ones were thought to be obscure myths at best. Even recent history is riddled with embellishment and inaccuracies. Sifu Misso would want me to remember that," Nekka said.

Azula drummed her long fingernails on the table. Sokka, too, was impatient, but hid it. "As I was saying, the Old Ones ruled the planet for a long time, building cities and carrying on with scientific studies. There are indications that their civilization was quite advanced, but as you can see by it no longer being here, something happened."

When she did not elaborate, Azula started to speak but Sokka held his hand up. "Do you know what the Old One's connection to Cthulhu is? Are they minions or something?

"Possibly," said Nekka. "No one is entirely sure just what Cthulhu is. Like the Old Ones, it's from the stars, but the way the Old Tongue is written, that particular phrase could mean it's from another plane of existence, separate from the physical world."

"So he's a spirit, then?" said Azula.

Nekka was thinking, moving her hand over the table as though writing. "No, not exactly, but that may be a good way to think of it."

"It might explain why he went after Aang," said Sokka, thinking Nekka had been right about this knowledge being useless. "It looks like he sent the Old Ones to do it for him."

Nekka shook her head and turned her tea cup around. "The old texts talk about Cthulhu conquering and enslaving other races and beings. There are references to Cthulhu and the Old Ones, but there are also better documented accounts of the Old One's slaves, the shoggoths, overthrowing them. Which event happened first has been a matter of debate.

"In other words, we're as confused as we were before," said Azula, pounding her fist on the table. "Are you sure there's no better scholar than you that's looked into this?"

Sokka gritted his teeth, but Nekka seemed ready to hold her own here.

"No," she said, gripping her tea cup. "There isn't. There's really only two primary sources when it comes to prehistory, that's the Pnakotic Fragments, and copies of the Necronomicon." She was pleased Azula did not know what she meant, but Sokka stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Hoplo scribbled something about the fragments in his journal," he said. "What are they?"

"The Pnakotic Fragments? Originally they were stone tablets, but turned to dust a long time ago. I've read what's been translated and copied from scrolls over thousands of years. They're called fragments because that's what they are, they're not complete. They talk about the coming of the Old Ones, and of Cthulhu, and R'lyeh's sinking. They hint at other things that no one has been able to make sense of, or fill in."

She was shaking again, and brought her tea cup to her lips only to realize she had finished it.

"We can take a break if you need to rest," said Sokka, pouring her another cup. "It's been a rough day and we're sorry we need you to talk about this stuff."

Azula was not on board with this. "I still want to hear about the Necronomicon," she said. "These fragments sound largely useless."

Nekka took another gulp of tea without letting it cool, and curled her lips until the pain passed. "The Necronomicon is a book written hundreds of years ago by a sandbender going by the name of Al-Hazred. Al-Hazred the Mad, as he's sometimes called, but "mad" had different connotations back then. 'One who sees' might be more fitting."

This seemed to please Azula, for what Sokka suspected were personal reasons.

"So, what's this Necronomicon about?" he asked.

"Like the fragments, it's a history, of sorts, but it contains everything Al-Hazred new about the Old Ones, and the Great Old Ones, as Cthulhu and his ilk are often called. He purportedly knew of ways to communicate with such beings, and presumably deal with them."

Azula slapped the table and almost rose to her feet. "Why didn't you start with that, then, you, you..." she settled back down with clenched fists and Sokka's hand on her arm. "We would like to see this book as soon as possible."

Nekka blew on her tea before sipping it. A spiteful calmness had come over her. "The library only has a few copied pages, mostly corroborating the Pnakotic Fragments. The original is said to be in the Library of Wan Shi Tong, which was lost to mankind a long, long time ago."

The sound of Sokka's hand slapping his forehead was like a thunder clap while Azula's cursing like the patter of rain that followed. "Sorry," Nekka said, seeming to have lost her bitter edge. "I wish there was a full copy here. Perhaps there are others, but from what I've heard too much gets lost in translation for it to be of much use to anyone."

"You must have some notion of where in the world this library is," said Azula.

Before Nekka could answer, Sokka waved his hands over the table. "I know where it is," he said. "It's in the Si Wong Dessert. It's where I learned about the Day of Black Sun."

Again there was silence. "So what's the problem, then?" Azula asked.

"Well, we kinda annoyed the library's spirit guardian and he buried the place pretty deep. Even if we could find it again, I have no idea how we'd get to it or how we'd get past Wan Shi Tong. We'd also have to trade him something, like a book, to be allowed to look around. That was before we reminded him why he hated humanity."

Nekka shuffled on her cushion and drummed her fingers on the table. "Well...if you can find the library and get as far as the price of admission, you can have Hoplo's journal to pay the spirit. It might forgive you if you pleaded your case"

Sokka felt like he had been dunked in the ocean and the cold seawater had sucked the energy from his bones, making him soggy and heavy. "And while we're messing around in the dessert, our friends are hanging out with Cthulhu in R'lyeh or wherever. Great."

"Well, don't worry," Nekka said. "If Cthulhu intends to obliterate your friends minds and bodies, surely he's done it by now."

Sokka scanned her face for bitterness, but saw she had genuinely meant to be helpful.

"I don't see any other options," Sokka said. "Maybe Appa remembers where the library is."

Sokka could not remember being so discouraged. He did not want to return to the Fire Nation with such a terrible lead, and he stretched to find excuses not to.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you more," Nekka said. "I won't tell anyone about this, either. Misso would have wanted that promise kept. I just wish I knew why he..."

Sokka extended his hand across the table, but Nekka did not reach for it. "Don't be sorry, you've given us a goal, a promising one if we can make it get it together. We're sorry about that happened, and if there's anything we can do down the road just let me know."

She nodded, prompting them all to stand and mosey to the door. They let themselves out, and stood in the alleyway briefly. "The journal," said Azula, holding her hand out. "You said you would give it to us. We intend to visit this library straight away."

"I'll get it," Nekka said, some of her sourness returning. She went inside, but before she could return with the journal, a dozen soldiers had come down alleyway, clogging it.

"Stop there, please," said the lead man.

They moved past Sokka and Azula so they were surrounded. "What's going on, guys?" Sokka asked, sensing they were not hostile and likely wanted to ask questions about Misso's death.

"Chief Arnook got a letter from Fire Lord Zuko asking that you be detained," said the guard Sokka had spoken to on their arrival. "Apparently you stole the Avatar's sky bison." This he added in a secretive voice.

Sokka felt as though he had been slapped. He wished someone would slap him for real, for he felt unsteady on his feet. "Wait, what? That can't be right," he finally stammered.

"That's all I know," said the guard, as Sokka and Azula were separated and lead away. He hoped she would not fight them, not yet at least. "And I'd be in it deep if the higher ups knew I said anything, so act surprised when you see Arnook," the guard added.

"Yeah, I'll try real hard to fake it," said Sokka as they were led away.

**To be continued...**


	7. Chapter 6: Blood

**Chapter VI.**

**Blood  
**

Both he and Azula were bound in chains, which would have been ropes had she not threatened to burn a guard. Their cell had little floor room, but it was tall, creating the illusion of spaciousness. Sokka thought it was the result of either luck or incompetence that he and Azula had been put in the same cell together, but then he noticed the vents near the ceiling.

After the guards had left them, Azula fumed and shouted all manner of oaths and insults, that was until Sokka nudged her and gestured towards the vents. "They're listening to everything we say. They put us together so we'd talk and say incriminating stuff, so be careful," he whispered into her ear from closer than was comfortable.

Smirking, she let loose a string of particularly vile statements about the Northern Water Tribe, which even Sokka found offensive.

With little else to do he sat down and brooded over their prior meeting with Chief Arnook, the one they had after being arrested. They were brought before him in a different chamber than the one he had first received them in, a larger, more imposing hall held up by stone arches and ornamented with whale bones.

Arnook's face had sagged with disappointment and to Sokka's slight comfort, some disbelief.

"Sokka, tell me what's really going on," Arnook had said. "Who is this woman and what are you two really doing here?"

That would have been an ideal time to tell Chief Arnook everything and get the backing of an entire nation, Sokka thought, but he had held his tongue. At best, Arnook would not believe him. At worst, he would think him insane. Any story he told would be investigated, and if they learned who Mai Lee truly was, he doubted Nekka's word would help them much.

Besides, if he told their story it would get back to their enemies, and they did not need to know anymore than they likely did already.

What troubled him now was the question of who had really sent the note from Zuko. He was glad he had asked to see it, and that Arnook was kind enough to show it to both him and Azula.

Chief Arnook, of the Norther Water Tribe, greetings from Fire Lord Zuko. This is embarrassing, but my most trusted adviser has absconded with Avatar Aang's sky bison, and I believe he may seek refuge in your fair city. I would ask that you detain him and whomever he may be traveling with. Please send word if they are found so arrangements to turn them over can be made. Yours, Fire Lord Zuko.

It had come by messenger hawk was all Sokka was told. Azula had remained quiet during the interview, but Sokka had seen her smile when she read the note.

"Well, what now, Plan Boy? We can't return to the Fire Nation like this," Azula said, her breath turning to fog in the cold cell. She had calmed down and seemed satisfied that she had blistered the ears of whoever had been listening in on them.

"I don't know, _Mai Lee,_ I haven't been able to think, because someone's been going on about what my people like to do to snowmen," he said, then added quietly, "I wish I knew who sent that letter to Arnook, though."

Azula sat down beside him and put her lips near his ear. "It wasn't Zuko, that I can tell you. Forging love notes from him to Mai was once a fond pastime of mine, so I should know his handwriting when I see it. It was a very good forgery, though."

Her warm breath tickling his ear made it hard for him to think. "Probably some frog-faced jerk. My guess is we won't make it to the Fire Nation when we leave here," he said.

"_If_ we leave here," she said. "If our enemies can forge notes from the Fire Lord, they can send men with daggers to pay us a night visit."

"We'll sleep in shifts," Sokka said.

"Sleep? In this dingy cell? I should tell them who I really am and demand better lodging. The rules of nobility transcend borders."

"Shhh, keep it down," he said, nodding up at the ceiling.

Azula looked to the vents and grinned while casting him a conspiratorial glance. "Oh, Sokka, is there no place on earth that our love can be free?" she said loudly.

"What are you...what?" Alarmed, he looked around their small cell, then to the door.

"I said we should elope in the Earth Kingdom, but you said the Northern Water Tribe was more romantic. You romantic fool!"

A fit of good humor suddenly flooded him and he bit his lip to keep quiet. Hoping his stifled snorts were being heard as sobs, he cried out, "I'm sorry, Mai Lee. I was blinded by love, and my desire for our wedding to be beautiful drove me to folly. I will always love you, Mai Lee."

Sokka wished to laugh aloud, as something inside him felt like it had broken and the humor would purge his body and spirit of all the poison it had accumulated.

"My love allows me to forgive, my little snowman," said Azula, stifling her chuckles as well. He tried not to stare at her for her smile, now free of malice, made her look like Suzi. He wondered how his roommate was doing, if Katara was safe, and thought he would ask a question.

"When you kissed me that one time, were you planning to scratch me, too, or was that on the spur of the moment?"

Her smile froze on her face as her mind churned. "What makes you think I planned either? Don't think your little flirting game when we were in the balloon had any effect on me."

Sokka had forgotten what she was talking about, but after a moment he remembered. Their escape from the caverns had been followed by a harrowing balloon trip, one which ended in them running across a Fire Nation search party. He had needed her for his escape, and in the end she helped him. Whether it had been because of his feigned interest in her near the end, or the sum of their experiences, he did not know.

"Oh, I think it did work," he said, speaking low. "You were going to turn me over to the Fire Nation, but I figured you liked guys of a certain type, so I put on a little act and you bought it."

Her face was still a wall of ice, betraying nothing. "And what type would that be?"

"Confident. Assertive. A jerk."

"I didn't notice you acting any differently than normal. That's funny, you thought you could pretend to be someone you weren't with me." Her amber eyes turned toward him, blazing. "I know who you really are, Sokka. I've seen you in your lowest moments, when you were pushed to the very edge. Does that bother you?"

"No. I'm happy with myself," he said. "I saw the same side of you, maybe you're the one that's bothered."

She snorted. "Oh, I'm bothered alright, but you're the least of my problems."

"Maybe, but you still don't like the fact that I've seen the girl that lives underneath the scary fire princess," he said. "Something tells me even your so-called friends never got a glimpse of her. Not a good one, at least."

"There may be a girl underneath the scary fire princess, but don't forget the princess is still quite real. And in control," said Azula.

His fit of laughter before had left him feeling heady, like he had sipped too much fire wine. "Sometimes that scary princess is just the one we need," he said, wanting their small cell to return to a state of peace. "Granted, she could tone it down a little."

Azula's eyebrows rose, almost imperceptibly. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're learning to appreciate me," she said. "You have some useful traits yourself. That Kyoshi Warrior is a lucky girl."

"Pfft. Tell that to her," Sokka said, not sure he wanted to talk about Suki. It was all he could do not to think about her or his friends and where they might be.

"Did it not work out? What happened?"

The sound of sincerity in her voice caught him off guard, sucked him in. "Time, distance, life. I don't know. What really stinks is the last time I talked to her I drank too much fire wine and acted like a complete moose pig. I don't care if she'll love me again, I just want her to be safe."

"That's pathetic," Azula said.

"_I'm_ pathetic? Oh, boy, that's rich."

"You are. But I suppose it doesn't matter, does it? I've never been loved by anyone, but here I am stuck in a cold cell next to a man whining over a woman who dumped him. What's the point in fighting these monsters if our two options are being pathetic or being alone?"

"Those aren't our two options, for one thing," Sokka said. "And what do you mean no one ever loved you? Your mother..."

"Don't ever talk about my mother," she said curtly. "She hated me, my father saw me as a tool, and my brother locked me away. As for Mai and Ty Lee, they only pretended to be my friends."

"You've only got yourself to blame there. Like I was saying, maybe if you keep the scary fire princess to a minimum you'd find some real friends."

"You're an idiot," she said. "You're also the closest thing I think I'm ever going to have for a friend. Now that's pathetic."

His breath caught, and his back straightened. He did not know what to say, but knew it had to be something, and soon, before she noticed the silence. "Um, that's not all that pathetic. I mean, I'm a fun guy...we could hang out, someday. Maybe. If you weren't trying to kill me or my friends."

Sokka cringed, preparing for whatever sarcastic remark she was about to make.

"I'd like that," she said, the whispered sound entombing itself on the floor of the cell.

He watched the vapor that floated out of her mouth and disappeared between them. He shivered. His chains rattled.

"I'd like the company of a hippo pig if meant not going back to a cell," Azula added, scowling and turning away from him.

With nothing more to say they decided quietly that sleep was a good idea. With some reluctance, Azula said she would sleep first, leaving Sokka to remain on the alert for the assassins she was sure were on their way. She leaned against the wall, but since she was not screaming she was not asleep.

In the silence he had time to think, mostly of questions. Each answer he offered up split into two more questions, and with nothing but assumptions to make he let his mind wander. Predictably all it did while wandering was worry. The only other thing to think about was Azula, and this made him tired and tense.

A knock on the cell door jolted him; he had been half-sleeping.

The guard in the doorway was the one he had met on arriving in the Northern Water Tribe. He was older than Sokka, but young still. "You have a visitor," he said. "Uh, no one is listening in on you anymore."

Sokka gave a nod and was both relieved and disappointed to see Nekka. She entered the cramped cell and the door shut behind her.

"They told me why you were arrested," she said. "Something is very, very wrong if what you told me was the truth.

"You can say that again. How are you holding up?"

She straightened her domed cap and rubbed her eyes. Nekka had been crying, but she wore a hunted look Sokka had not seen on her before, even in her house as they told her the truth about why they had come.

"I'm fine," she said. "One of the guards came back to my house after you were arrested and we talked for a while. He's sort of a friend of mine...you met him just now. I didn't tell him everything, just enough so he would agree to help you escape. I guess he remembers you from the last time you were here, and doesn't think you're a bison thief."

Sokka's breath came out in a powerful cone of fog. "Yes! Man, I was getting' worried. So, what's the plan?"

"Just be ready to move tonight," Nekka said. "A few people actually came to ask me about you. It seems you have quite a few friends in the city that you didn't know about."

"Good to know," Sokka said. "You might want to lay low after we're gone, you've suffered enough because of us. Word of what's going on in the Fire Nation will get here eventually, and things might get pretty crazy."

"I don't blame you for what happened," Nekka said. "I don't know why Sifu Misso did what he did, it was so unlike him, but I hope he was wrong."

"Thanks for all your help, Nekka," said Sokka. She played with the ends of her brown hair for a moment, then bowed. When she was gone Sokka put his hands together, his chains clinking.

"A group of friends, did she say? My, how convenient. I shudder to think what you must have done for a group of people to commit treason for you," Azula said.

"You think it's a trap? Seems kinda clunky."

"The guard is legitimately trying to help us. He seems to have a man-crush on you, but as for the others I'm not so sure."

"I don't know, Princess Yue had a thing for me, it's entirely possible I picked up a group of adoring fans while I was here."

"All you picked up was an inflated ego and possibly a disease," she said. "I'll be preparing myself for a less than friendly welcome this evening, I advise you do the same."

He looked down at his shackles and thought it too bad the guards had not gagged her. "I just want to know how these people and things keep finding us. I mean, how powerful are they?"

"Powerful enough to haunt my dreams wherever I go. Maybe they can send messages to each other that way."

"Or read your mind," he said, mulling over new jigsaw puzzle pieces.

"Oh, so this is my fault?

"I wouldn't say it's your fault, but maybe that's how these things knew about Aang to kidnap him."

"That's nonsense," she said, her chains clattering.

Sokka shook his head and stood up. He used the wall to support himself while he did stretches. His legs ached regardless of what he did, and he stopped short of doing jumping jacks to pump blood into his limbs, for there was not enough room. "It's just a theory," he said, satisfying her.

"If we ever lay eyes on that girl's stupid Necronomicon I'm sure it will shed some light on the subject," said Azula. "And that's looking like a big _if _at this rate."

"Nah, we can do this. The hard part will be getting to Appa. Once we're in the air, I'm sure he'll remember where the library was and we can hire some sandbenders or something." The plan sounded terrible each time he thought it over and worse when said aloud.

"I'd rather not know that our fates hinge on the brains of a bison," said Azula.

"Well, right now they hinge on how ready we are to move when the time comes, so let's rest as much as we can."

Sleep was not something either of their bodies wanted, and they passed long hours in silence. When the door opened it was like an era had passed. Both jumped to their feet and blundered into several grasping hands, which tugged them from the cell into a hall lit by torches.

Sets of bulging eyes too far apart from each other glittered wetly in the torchlight. There were about six of them, all middle aged. Two were women and while their hair lines were not receding, they bore all the other distinctive features found in the so-called Outer-Maw look.

"Just who the heck are you people?" Sokka asked, and was punched in the stomach.

"Coulda lived longer if you'd just let nature take its course, but your bookish friend told us what was up," said the largest of the men. "We'll sort you out now, but not here."

Azula had been gagged quickly, and her heavy chains kept her from fighting effectively. She did manage to bite one of the people who gagged her, but she took two hard blows to the head in response. Sokka was gagged also and they were led roughly out of the prison and through narrow streets, becoming disoriented in the process.

One of the alleys led to a long flight of stairs that ended at a causeway. The city's ice wall was darker this night under the cloudy sky, but it still shone in contrast to the black, lapping water of the sea.

Set into the ice wall like gaping eye sockets were drainage tunnels large enough for people to walk through. They entered the third one from the stairs and followed it for a hundred yards or so before one of their captors bent a wall of ice aside to reveal a lower, narrower tunnel.

The man's bending form was crude, but Sokka was surprised to see that any of them could waterbend.

They came to a large, domed chamber filled with the smell of smoke from burning braziers. Dozens of people, all with the Outer-Maw look, stood around in threadbare clothing. The look was so pronounced on some, they barely seemed human, especially the black-robed priest who stood behind a misshapen alter of ice. His eyes were like glass bowls, pale and watery. He had wide, flabby lips and no chin to speak of. His bald head sloped backward and was scabby in places, giving way to what looked like scales.

Sokka was brought with Azula before the altar and forced to kneel. The ice was discolored and there were long gouges in its surface. When their gags were removed, Azula immediately began issuing threats.

"Silence!" bellowed the fishy-looking priest. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

"Please tell me someone is going to at least tell us what's going on before they kill us?" said Sokka, desperately trying to squeeze out of his shackles. He envisioned hobbling out of the room while Azula breathed fire, but given the number bodies around them he was beginning to feel numb and heavy.

The priest bellowed another strange set of syllables and was answered by a rousing chorus if "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!" from the gathered people.

"Mortal fools!" said the priest, his lips doing a poor job of keeping the saliva in his mouth. "We stand at the end of an era! The Dreamer has lain dead for long cycles and finally the stars are right for the return! Dead Cthulhu stirs in his house at R'lyeh! No mortal dreamer may deny it, no sojourner among the stars or the voids between the worlds! Great Cthulhu, he who lies dead but which can never die, has bid us to end you, for you seek to blaspheme and hinder. You!" he grabbed Azula by the hair and held her head up. "Your blood will spill the last, to wash the altar clean of this one!" He slapped Sokka. "You are a dreamer, yet you do not believe. You see, yet you have no faith. You have fear, yet you have no loyalty. Mighty Cthulhu will rise when the stars are right, which will be soon."

The priest took a long, curved dagger from his robe and held it in his thick, webbed fingers.

"One question," said Sokka, his eyes flickering to Azula who had bent her head down and was breathing heavily. "Why did he take Aang? Why did the Old Ones take the Avatar? You know what I'm talking about."

The priest laughed. "It's questions that brought you here, boy. Questions without a desire for faith lead only to death, as the old fool Misso discovered. Aha, yes, we slew him! Our reach is long, fools."

"Answer me, why did you take Aang!?" Sokka shouted.

His head was forced down into the altar, and the priest cried, "Cthulhu fhtagn! You know nothing, and you will die knowing nothing save that when mighty Cthulhu devours the Avatar's spirit he will be mightier than all, even the Demon Sultan Azathoth!"

Chants of "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!" filled the air and Sokka waited for the priest's robed sleeve to shuffle which would signal the dropping of the curved dagger. He would then twist, and kick at the strong body that held him from behind, hoping for the best.

When the chants became cries of alarm and the sound of water slapping against bodies could be heard, Sokka yanked his head to the side only to feel a bright, wet pain shoot from his ear into his head. He screamed and threw himself backward into a body, and they both went down. Blood had soaked his coat, and he could feel his ear was not in the right place.

He saw that Azula was fighting with more success than he had been having. When the priest reached over the altar to grab her by the hair and run his bloody dagger across her throat, she spewed a puff of flame into his face. The weapon clattered on the alter amid his shrieking as his hands covered his face.

A patrol of city guards had come down the tunnel and attacked the cult members, all of which were fighting with religious fervor. Some even showed themselves to be capable waterbenders. Sokka got to his feet, and staggered to the altar where he took the dagger and turned to the man that had grabbed Azula from behind. He was too busy trying not to be burned by the fire she was spitting to stop Sokka from using the dagger on his midsection. The man fell away, and Sokka went with Azula to the altar.

"Free me and this battle is ours!" she said.

The dagger, fortunately, was made from a higher quality metal than the shackles, and he used it to pry them open and off her hands and feet. He thought he would be on his own once she was loose, but she took the dagger and used it too roughly break his bonds.

"Fools!" Shouted the priest, his thick, wet lips now dotted with blisters along with the rest of his face. "R'lyeh will rise again soon, and you two will be marked for a special doom! Ia! Ia! Cthulhuaaaahh!"

Azula's lighting bolt entered his chest and sent him hurling into the wall where he caught fire.

"Time for a fish-fry," said Azula, turning to the battle behind them. Before she could complete the hand motions she used to split her chi and create lightning, Sokka grabbed her wrist and pulled her off balance.

"You'll hit the guards!" he shouted, hoping to calm or at least divert the anger in her eyes.

"They're our enemies, too!" she hissed, pulling away from him.

All he knew was he no longer wanted to be in this room regardless of who won the fight. His entire right side was soaked in blood, and his hand told him his ear was hanging by a small cord of flesh. He was dizzy, and the pain was growing deeper into his skull. He grabbed her, and led her through the chaos, her flames and lighting causing everyone to give them a wide berth.

They were in the drainage tunnel when a familiar voice called to them above the din echoing from the ritual chamber. Sokka kept a firm hold of Azula, for she was now leading him in his dazed state.

"Go, go!" their guard ally said, as he waived them along.

The cold air of the outside made Sokka's ear burn, and he let go of Azula to hunch over and wretch. "Wow, you're bleeding pretty good, man," said the guard.

"Oh, dear! What happened?" It was Nekka. She had been standing at the entrance to the tunnel.

"Those supposed friends of ours that you were so helpful towards tried to kill us," said Azula. "Luckily the city guard showed up in the nick of time." She put emphasis on the word _nick, _and slapped Sokka on the back.

"Luck had nothing to do with it," said the guard, wary of her. "I was coming to help you escape like we planned when I saw I'd been beaten to it. Nekka was with me, so I had her go get more guards while I followed you and marked where their tunnel was hidden."

"Sounds like luck to me," Azula said. "We need to be going. Is the bison ready like you said it would be?"

"Yeah," said the guard, peering at Sokka's wound. "I even packed his boomerang. He's really hurt, isn't he?"

"Yes, which is why need to move," Azula said.

"Wait, he needs a healer," said Nekka.

"I'll see to his injuries when we're in the air," said Azula, hauling Sokka along. "Lead us to the bison."

They moved quickly. Sokka let Azula lead him while he wondered if the guard would get into trouble for his role in this. Mostly he thought about the healing supplies he had made a point to purchase and wondered if he would still have his ear by the end of this.

Appa was shuffling restlessly on top of a high, wide tower. The guard had gone ahead to make sure no other guards were around, and after doing something to clear the area briefly, they were all standing around the great, fury beast's many legs as he grunted with impatience and alarm at the smell of blood.

"Hey, thanks, man," Sokka said, extending his bloody hand to the guard, who reached for the other one. "I never got your name."

"Dekken," said the guard. "Sorry your wedding didn't go down like you hoped. I take it those were her in-laws?

"What?" Sokka said, then remembered his and Azula's mock conversation in their cell. "Oh, no, no..."

"A little joke," said Dekken. "I can see something weird is going on here and I'd offer to help, but I don't think it would be a good idea if I ran off with you. I might be in enough trouble as it is."

"Here," said Nekka, holding out Hoplo's journal to Sokka, who was reluctant to take it with his bloody hands.

Azula took it instead, then handed it back to Nekka while grabbing her arm. "You hold on to it. You're coming with us."

"Wha-what? N-no, I couldn't...Sifu Misso..."

"Is dead. Those fish-eyed freaks killed him, just like they'll kill you if you stay here. You think that was all of them back there? You're marked now and, besides, we need someone who can make sense of that musty old book if we ever find it. This isn't a request."

Sokka was wobbling on his feet as the ground spun. He was barely aware of what was happening, but Dekken did not seem to notice when he spoke to him. "I need you to hit me," Dekken said. "I'll say I was leading you to safety when you sucker punched me. Sokka? Sokka?"

"I don't know..." Sokka began to say, then Azula did the deed. Her fist smashed into Dekken's eye and he went down, still conscious but with a blossoming wound that would help his story immensely.

"You..." Sokka began to say, but a front of nausea hit him, and he was ushered up Appa's flat, meaty tail by Azula, who pushed and dragged Nekka alongside him.

"I've always wanted to try this," said Azula, taking Appa's reins when they were in the saddle. The bison grunted deeply and shook his head when Azula held his reins and sat on the back of his neck.

"Easy, buddy, do what she says," called Sokka as loudly and gently as he could while he laid down. His head and shoulder had become a sticky mess.

"Yip-yip," shouted Azula, and like an annoyed, fluffy flower seed pod, Appa rose into the air and drifted to the southeast.

Sokka heard Nekka muttering something about her healing skills not being so great before the airiness and nausea he felt came together to form a kind of tornado that spun him off into blackness.

**To be continued...**


	8. Chapter 7: The Wanted Ones

**Chapter VII.**

**The Wanted Ones**

The sharp piping of sea birds and the smell of brine made him think for a moment he was home again, snoozing in a canoe. Cold water against his head made him open his eyes, only for them to shrivel in the sunlight. A cool cloth was applied to his forehead and he groaned.

Sokka's skull felt like it was a bucket of pus, as did his stomach, which from time to time heaved in an effort to toss up its contents, but since it was empty all it did was wrack him with pain.

"Shhh," the voice he heard was a snake moving through grass. "Try to drink. You won't live much longer if you don't."

It was Azula's voice slithering between his ears. He coughed when water was dripped into his hot, sandy mouth, and his head threatened to come to pieces and his stomach shrank to the size of a raisin.

"I don't care if it hurts," she said softly into his good ear. "You need to swallow this water, or you're going to die."

Sokka heard the birds caw, the sea sloshing against a gravel beach. He could smell the water even when he breathed out, for the odor had permeated his nose and mouth. Azula was talking. There was another voice, but it was fading along with hers. He was going far away.

-888-

The Water Tribe boy was dying.

A strange kind of fear had fallen over her like a fever at the realization, which had been building since the night before as she flew the bison southeast towards the Earth Kingdom.

The scholar girl said she knew some healing techniques and had set to work on Sokka with them as they flew. It had soon become clear they needed to land and getting the stubborn bison to set down on a flat iceberg had been a rather vexing challenge. After they had landed, Azula got the medical kit and cleaned Sokka's wound only to find his ear hanging by a small segment of flesh and practically boiling with infection.

Once the wound was cleaned and bound, the scholar girl had bent a globule of water over it and made it glow green with her chi. "I'm not very good at this," she had said.

"Clearly," Azula had said. "Just make sure you don't botch it completely. If he dies we'll have serious problems."

They had found this beach in the morning. It was part of a rocky, lonely island that sported some greenery on its southern end. The bison had been eager to land, and less eager to feast on the cold seaweed that grew plentifully around the shoals, but hunger had driven it to eat them with gusto.

Azula was tired and hungry herself, but Sokka needed water before anything else. He was not waking up and she could not seem to get him to take even a small amount of liquid.

Under her direction, the scholar girl retrieved a healing salve from the medical kit which Azula applied directly to Sokka's wounds. While he was no longer bleeding the salve did nothing for the infection which was spreading its redness into his skull and face.

The day wore on and Sokka showed no signed of improvement despite the scholar girl being told to use her bending in an effort to heal him. The girl insisted that if she used her bending to force him to drink when he could not take a sip on his own he would drown. Azula wanted to slap her, but knew she was right.

-What a stupid way to die,- she thought, looking down at his ashen face and hating the seabirds that were calling to each other about the free meal they assumed they would soon have.

It was the middle of the afternoon when Nekka let her water globule fall and splash on the blanket next to Sokka's head.

"Why are you stopping? He's dying, you know," Azula said.

"I can't...it's too tiring, I can't keep it up anymore."

"You have energy to complain, you have energy to heal," she said, moving the bandage to examine the wound. It was bad, but her efforts had likely extended his life.

"I-I have an idea," Nekka said, looking inland over the rocks and stunted plants.

Azula squeezed some water from a skin into Sokka's mouth and he gagged. She held his head so he would not jostle his ear. "It had better be good," she said.

"There might be a certain type of herb growing on this island. I can tell from the other plants. It's supposed to be excellent for infections, but I can't remember if it's in season."

"What are you waiting for, go!" Azula shouted. Nekka fled like a spooked quail mouse into the scrub lands towards a stand of larger bushes.

Azula kept trying to make Sokka drink until evening when a purple curtain seemed to rise from the horizon and reveal the stars. -What did that priest say about stars? That they're almost right?-

Her dreams had involved stars, the kind that hid in the blackest parts of the sky, unseen for entire eras.

Sokka coughed and his eyes fluttered. She touched his forehead to feel the infection burning him up and his eyelids peeled back to reveal dry orbs, alive with an unexpected lucidity. She had heard dying men sometimes rallied at the end, the spirit's one last hurrah.

"Azula," he said, her name almost unintelligible in the dryness of his mouth.

"Silence. That girl will be back soon with some medicine, so you'd be a fool to die now. Drink!"

She squeezed a damp cloth over his open mouth and clamped her hand over his lips as he choked. "Your stomach or your lungs, one way or another you're going to take it," she said.

Dehydration had given him the semblance of a dried corn husk. He looked worse than she had ever seen him, even when they were in that terrible, cold place at the south pole. "This would be a very stupid way for you to die, Sokka," she said, not knowing if he could hear her.

She turned her head when the sound of Nekka's footsteps came rattling down a gravely animal trail that wound through the low, rough scrub bushes. In her hands was a bouquet of green leaves which she was looking at instead of where her feet were being planted. When she fell, Azula lost her patience and screamed. "Get over here, you bungling fool! If he dies because of your incompetence, so help me..." her voice had cracked and she clipped her words short.

"A-all we have to do is grind them into the other salve," babbled Nekka, who cowered when she got close to Azula. "I think this is the right plant..."

"If it's not, you can eat the rest of the medicine for dinner. Hurry, it's probably already too late."

The healing kit came with a small mortar and pestle which Nekka used to grind the new leaves in with the existing salve. Azula removed Sokka's bandages and readied fresh ones while the salve, now a pea green color, was applied to the bare, red flesh of his wound.

When his bandages were replaced Azula continued to try and make Sokka drink. He no longer choked or gagged, something Azula took for a good sign and allowed herself a long enough reprieve to build a fire and fix herself something to eat.

Her intention had been to wake up periodically in the night to check on Sokka, but once asleep her terrors resumed. As always, she was running through black, stone streets that were somehow simultaneously straight and twisted, long and short. They curved forever in some places, and others occupied no space at all. Azula dared not stop running, even as the buildings around her grew larger and more incomprehensible. She was not alone in the city, for she could hear the constant sound of a thousand inhuman throats chanting, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."

The sound came from the archways, the holes in the buildings, black abysses that leered at her from every turn. She kept her eyes focused downward, not simply to keep from stepping on an obtusely angled rock that behaved as though it were acute, but because she dared not look at the thing above her.

She had looked at it once before and how it had not driven her completely mad she could not say, but she would not make the same mistake twice. It could see her easily enough wherever she went, whatever hole she crawled in; it was like a fire hawk and she a small mouse in an open field. Unlike the hawk, it would not swoop until she looked up at it. That was the game it played. It wanted to watch her crawl through its streets, become coated in their filth, before she finally said "Enough!" and looked into its eyes, offering herself up to be consumed.

Running was becoming tiresome. She had fallen into some black, sticky substance. It was on her hands, dripping, spreading down her arms as it chewed at her with a million tiny mouths. It hurt. It burned. It was on her face, the heat spreading over her skin and penetrating her skull.

It was the warm, yellow sun come to wake her. Azula rose quickly and looked around. There were no walls, nothing to keep the gentle, cool breeze off her face and out of her hair. She crossed her arms, feeling like something was still watching her. It was Nekka, who was crouched over Sokka's body as he lay on the ground beside the low-burning fire.

"G-good morning," Nekka said. "He's doing much better."

His bandages had been changed again, and Nekka was right, some of Sokka's natural tan color had returned to his face and his breathing was stronger. He had been given water and so Azula set to making herself breakfast, then bid Nekka to collect firewood. The girl obeyed, leaving her alone with Sokka.

"How long are we going to stay here?" Nekka dared ask around mid-morning. Azula came close to giving a response that would have ensured no more questions came from the scholar, but with the sun high and shining and Sokka's improved pallor, her mood had improved.

"We'll leave as soon as he's conscious," Azula said. "It's dangerous to stay in one place for too long."

Afternoon had come by the time Sokka stirred. Azula took the opportunity to make him drink and when his throat was wet, he spoke. "What happened? Where am I?"

She had not expected to feel so relieved. "Alive," she said, sharply. "Drink more, you're dying of dehydration."

He did as he was told, and she let him sit in silence while Nekka preformed another water healing session over his ear. When she was done, Azula explained what had happened to him.

Sokka touched his bandage and let his hand flop back onto the bedroll he had been laid out on. "How long?"

"It's been a few days since we left the Northern Water Tribe," Azula said. "The medicine I had the girl make for you was quite effective, but you still need rest. We'll leave when you can move. In the mean time keep drinking water."

"Thanks," he said. "Can do."

"Just heal quickly. Nursing you is becoming tedious."

She left Sokka to sleep and walked to the other side of the fire where Nekka sat hugging her knees. She sat down next to her, and noted how the girl cringed. "Alright, bookworm, time to earn your keep."

"I have been earning it," said Nekka. "You forced me to come along."

"I saved your life, or at the very least prolonged it. Those freaks who kidnapped us, who were they? We've seen their kind before, they appear to be some kind of cult."

Nekka straightened her hat and moved a few inches away. "Cthulhu and beings like him have attracted the worship of a number of scattered cults all across the world. Sifu Misso said most are harmless, but a few talk to each other and aren't so harmless. I don't know much about them, honestly. I had no idea one was living in the Northern Water Tribe."

"A costly mistake," said Azula. "It's not just the cult plaguing us. Like we told you, we were attacked by flying monsters that defied description. Any thoughts on how they might have known where to look for us?"

"I don't have any idea," said Nekka, her voice quaking.

Azula's fists clenched and she took long, deep breaths in order to remain calm. Some people were like plum apples, she thought, with tough, rubbery skins that dared one to squeeze them too hard. Doing so, however, made a mess.

"That priest I destroyed said something about the stars being right and he mentioned something called a Demon Sultan, Azathoth I think it was. What was that babble all about?"

Nekka turned her head so Azula could see her face. She was scared, but talking about these twisted things seemed to have a calming affect on her. "The stars being right I think literally means the position of the stars, so it's like saying the time is right. As for Azathoth," she shook her head. "The consensus among scholars is that Azathoth is some kind of entity, like Cthulhu only greater. There's a line in the Pnakotic Fragments that indicates it's served by lesser beings, but I've never heard of it being called a demon sultan."

Azula frowned, some of her good mood ebbing. She waived her hand and made the campfire burn higher. "He called Sokka a dreamer. Sokka has been having some strange dreams since his encounter with the Old One on the beach. Care to shed any light on that?"

"I would if I could," said Nekka, a boldness growing in her tone. "Speaking of dreaming, what were yours about?"

The campfire flared, then calmed as Azula regained control of herself. "I'm trapped in a city, like none I've ever seen or heard about. The way it's built, it couldn't exist outside of a dream. There's chanting in another language, but somehow I can understand it. 'In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.' What does that mean?"

"I think it means Cthulhu is calling to you through your dreams," Nekka said. "It's known that certain people...artists, and gurus, and the like, sometimes get messages from things beyond this world."

"Artists and gurus, right. Madmen, too?" Azula picked up a rock and tossed it towards the lapping water. It struck a larger stone then went bouncing down the rough slope that led from the sea to their campsite. "I had hoped you would be more enlightening," Azula said.

"Well, sorry," said Nekka, now bold. "Who are you, really?

"Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation," she said, calling blue flames to her finger tips and letting them dance in the air before her.

"Azula? But you're..."

"Crazy? Locked up in an asylum? Do you have any idea what I've been through? You think the secrets you read in your books and scrolls are maddening, well try having them whispered in your ear every night for three years by things that don't have lips and don't speak any human language! And when they're not whispering, during what you think may be the daytime even though you've lost track, that's when mother comes to tell her lies! It's a wonder I'm not talking to myself while I eat my own hair, like some of the other gibbering slobs in Healer Bin's little kingdom."

Azula was on her feet, not remembering having stood up. She felt better, but suddenly her face flushed red. Sokka coughed, signaling he was awake, something Azula felt she had known for a while now.

"You must be very strong," said Nekka, trying to make herself smaller.

"Yes, I am. I had to be. They took everything away from me, even the sunlight. I've been in cold, dark places before, but I had someone with me, then. He had a nice, human face, something I could look at and remind myself I existed. I didn't have that in the asylum. They wore masks when I had to be tended to because they thought I'd burn them." She was pacing back and forth, realizing how she sounded but pressing on. Some things had to be said. "They were right, but that's beside the point. I was trying to remember his face for a long time, but I couldn't seem to get it. It kept melting, or not coming together right. It was a good thing he came to see me when he did, I was about to..."

She stopped abruptly. She had said enough, especially to this Water Tribe girl who may or may not have been about to call her crazy. Sokka rolled onto his side, an encouraging sign, and kept his eyes closed.

"You mean...him?" Nekka asked, pointing to Sokka.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I don't like him and he doesn't like me. We've got a common goal and some shared experiences, so we're working together."

Nekka was silent, careful not to make eye contact with Azula. The seabirds had calmed, but the wind had picked up to batter their low-burning fire. "Go get more wood for the fire," said Azula. The girl began to rise, not eager to go back into the brush but eager to be away. "On second thought, I'll get it. The wood you fetch is too green to burn properly."

She left the camp, following the animal trail Nekka had used into the chest high bushes. Her unguarded words still hung in the air around the camp like a physical thing, something she could feel like a thick fog and wanted to be away from.

-888-

Several hours passed in the scrub land where the color of everything was muted even under the bright sun. Only the blue-hued stones seemed to hold any vibrancy, that and the leaves on the lower part of the umbrella-shaped plants that were most protected from the bleaching effect of being close to the sea. Despite the drab surroundings Azula found herself basking as if it were the most brilliant beach in the Fire Nation and not some glorified shoal at the edge of the northern sea.

She was looking up at the sky and wondering what she looked like from the air. Flying, she had decided, was something she loved. The sky bison was smelly and his fur was coarse, and watching it eat and make leavings was disgusting, but what it allowed its riders to do made up for all of that. Even an airship was second-rate by comparison.

Being high in the sky on a bright sunny day was also the furthest thing she could think of from being in a cell or running through a twisted, dark dream city.

She let the sun beat on her face, infusing her with its warmth. Before, she had tried to keep to the shade despite the sun's positive effect on her bending for she had valued her fair complexion, but there was such a thing as too pale. It felt good to worry about little things like her vanity, but as the late morning pushed into the afternoon she felt drawn back to the camp.

She was nearly there when she remembered her original purpose and, not wanting to look like a fool, gathered up some sticks and branches and carried them in her arms to the camp.

Her pace quickened when she saw Sokka was sitting up with Nekka beside him. He was sipping some sort of tea and while he still look pale, the caul of death had lifted from him. He saw her and raised his cup in greeting. "Hey," he said. "How's it going?"

"Wonderful," she said, and dropped her sticks near their dwindled fuel pile then took her place on the side of the fire opposite her two companions. "You're lucky to be alive. Had this one not suddenly remembered there's a special plant on this island, you wouldn't have made it."

Nekka looked like she wanted to protest, but held her tongue. "Nekka told me all about it," Sokka said, frowning. "She also explained why you kidnapped her. Good thinking."

"Hopefully it won't backfire on me. Some people aren't cut out for this sort of thing," she said.

"Some people might surprise you," said Sokka.

She willed the fire to burn hotter as she got up to throw some of the greener sticks on it. They smoldered, but under her direction caught fire and burned with a low, blue flame. She watched the two Water Tribe members carefully. Sokka was sipping his tea, pretending not to stare at her while Nekka was looking off towards the sea, likely pining for her library full of fools and things not worth knowing.

What had they been talking about while she was gone? No doubt the girl had been whining, but had there been more?

"When are we leaving? Soon, I trust," said Azula.

"You got it. Staying in one place too long is a bad idea, but we can't head straight for the desert. We need more water skins first."

"How long do you expect this little desert adventure to last, assuming the bison does remember the way and assuming we can still reach the library?" Azula had never been to the Si Wong Desert, but had read about it. It sounded like an awful place regardless of how one traveled over it.

"By air, a couple days. The last time we were there we lost Appa and had to walk out. Aang used his bending on a cloud and we drank that, but there wasn't much and there aren't many clouds in the desert. And I definitely would not recommend drinking cactus juice."

He shuddered, making Azula raise a curious eyebrow, but Nekka's voice turned her face to a scowl. "M-may I say something?"

"No," said Azula, knowing the girl was just going to tell them the book they sought might be useless, and she was pessimistic enough as it was.

"What, Nekka?" asked Sokka.

The girl pursed her lips and looked towards the fire. "Never mind."

There was a long silence and Azula wondered if her plum apple had burst. Not caring, she got a cup and poured herself some tea.

"Whoa!" Sokka shouted, spilling some of his tea and making his head hurt. "Ooh, ow. I had an idea too hard..."

"How can you have an idea too hard?" Azula asked. He stood up, wobbling, while Nekka got up to help him.

"This Necronomicon, it's written on paper, right?" asked Sokka, holding his head and squinting.

"Y-yes, I believe so," said Nekka. "It might also be bound in human skin, but those are rumors."

"Ew. Well, it doesn't matter, there's a lot of paper in the library, but there's not a lot of paper in the desert, see?"

"I think you need to lie down for a few more hours," Azula said.

"Yes, but I know a bounty hunter who lives in the Earth Kingdom. She rides a shirshu, which is like a giant mole only meaner, and it can smell out pretty much anything. We give it a whiff of paper, lead it to the desert, and it can sniff out the library for us!"

"Isn't the Si Wong Desert rather large? I don't care how good this beast's nose is, there's no way it's going to smell out a buried library," said Azula.

"We don't have to search the whole desert," said Sokka, returning to his seat in a controlled fall. A smile was on his face, and she tried not to let it infect her. "In its center, there's a big rock full of buzzard wasps. I wouldn't recommend going there, but if we can get near it I can narrow down what part of the desert to look in. If that library is findable, we'll find it. We just have to find June."

-888-

They were airborne again and Azula was able to let some of her troubles flit away on the breeze. It was her opinion that finding some shady Earth Kingdom bounty hunter would take them weeks, but Sokka insisted it would take a few days at the most. He seemed to be trying to convince himself more than anyone, and she was tempted to needle him about that, but thought better of it. -Plum apples, remember?-

As the weather warmed they had little use for their heavy furs and Azula plucked at a thread on her light blue tunic, trying to keep her mind from wandering. Another reason she had not bothered Sokka about the time they were wasting was she did not want to think about it herself. Where had Zuzu been taken? The same place as the Avatar? That was a safe assumption, but where was that? She hoped it was someplace dark, damp, and lonely, but could not bring herself to wish they were in that awful nightmare city she spent her dreams in. Something about the idea of Zuzu huddled in those wretched, filth-tainted streets made her soft inside and that annoyed her.

After a few days of flying in this manner they spied a large village nestled between a young forest a long expanse of rolling foothills. Sokka bid Appa to land a few miles away from the village in the woods. Azula wanted to complain about the long walk ahead of them, but saw the wisdom in his tactic. The only qualm she voiced was over them leaving Nekka to tend the sky bison while they were away.

"What if she tries to fly off with him?" Azula asked, making no attempt to hide her words from Nekka's ears. "It's clear she's having second thoughts about being here."

"I'm not going anywhere," Nekka said, petting Appa's nose as he munched on some grass. "Like you said, those cult people will be after me, and besides, if you fail at this I'll be just doomed as anyone else."

"_If_ we fail. You think there's some other outcome?"

"If you don't, why are you here?" Nekka asked, more boldly than expected.

"We're all here because we all think there's at least a slim chance we can win," said Sokka as he counted the tokens in his coin purse. "Azula, leave her alone and let's go. Let me do the talking. It's not likely we'll find June here, but maybe someone has seen her."

She had been about to wound him with a remark when something rippled over his face. It was there and gone in an instant, but it made her swallow what she was about to say and watch him as he fastened his coin purse to the inside of his tunic. Had he heard something? She certainly had not.

As they walked, her anger came back and she went slightly ahead of him with the full intention of doing any and all talking that needed to be done. The road was dusty, and those people who had halted work during the hottest part of the day were now returning to their labor, sweaty and tired. When they were in the village proper, Azula, who was on the lookout for frog-faced people, noted she and Sokka were attracting a fair number of curious stares.

"We stick out remarkably well, don't you think?" she whispered to him. "Perhaps we should purchase some Earth Kingdom style clothing. I prefer them to these rags."

"We don't have money for that," said Sokka. "And the only one who looks out of place here is you."

"Why didn't you suggest I stay and guard the buffalo?" she asked, unmasked irritation in her voice.

"Because I still have a headache from getting my face nearly sliced off and didn't feel like arguing with you," he said. "Now, calm down and let me take care of finding June."

"I hope you've got enough in that little coin purse to pay whatever she's asking," said Azula. "A wild boar-q-pine chase in the desert isn't apt to be cheap."

Sokka sighed for an answer as they rounded a corner and went down the main street towards a row of taverns, barbers, and other shops.

They looked into the taverns, dingy places where the walls had been patched from people and rocks being thrown through them. Azula quickly grew tired of looking into these and asking the filthy people inside questions, so she remained in the street and met each unfriendly stare she got with one of her own. It was then she noticed a building quite out of place from all the others. It was built upon a large patch of loose sand and was made almost completely of high quality wood and canvass.

A slap to his arm got Sokka's attention. "That appears to be some sort of jail. And I'll bet those are wanted posters."

"A perfect hangout for a bounty hunter," said Sokka. "Let's check it out."

Sokka was about to head inside when she grabbed him. She snatched one of the posters off the bulletin board hanging outside the door and showed it to him. "We need to leave," she said.

His eyes opened wide like a lizard owl's, and he snatched a second poster from the wall. "Yep. Let's go."

Azula did not often feel panic, but it was there now, burning the back of her throat. How many people had looked at her with recognition since they had entered the village? She had been foolish to think her fair complexion and amber eyes had sparked the searching looks. No, it had been the fact they had seen her face before, listed above an obscene amount of reward money.

"Wanted Alive" the poster read in big bold characters atop a fairly decent drawing of her face. Azula dared not look at the picture while in town, but one glance had been enough to tell her it was as good a portrait as any that had been done of her. Better, perhaps, as it did not make the common mistake of adding a softness to her face that did not exist in the real thing.

The poster did contain one glaring error, though, one she was eager to ask Sokka about.

But before that, she chanced a look at her reflection in a watering trough beside an ostrich horse stable. The image was dark, but she could see the hollows in her eyes and cheeks, like something had been eating her from the inside. Her trademark bangs, well represented in the poster, were tied back with the rest of her hair in the fashion of Earth Kingdom girls.

She relaxed somewhat, but saw Sokka was anything but calm as he strained to keep from breaking into a run.

"They spelled my name wrong," Azula said. "This poster says, 'Suzi.'"

Sokka looked like he might scream. "Not now," he whispered loudly.

Azula smiled, Sokka's squirming a delight to her even amidst her confusion and apprehension.

As they went past a tack and harness shop, neither failed to note the two rough-looking men who were following them out of town. One wore a ragged, brown gi while the other was dressed in travel-worn green robe. The straw hat the latter man wore shielded the top half of his face from view, but Azula could see his mouth pulled into a thin smirk.

She looked at her wanted poster again and saw there was no mention of "Suzi" being a firebending prodigy.

Azula savored the notion of how quickly that smirk could be burnt off the man's face. Both men walked with the confidence of benders and it was a shame they would be settling this without an audience.

When they were away from town Sokka took a side path leading into the woods, away from the sky bison and Water Tribe girl. When they had gone a hundred yards or so, she and Sokka turned at the same time to face the two men. The smirking man was still smirking.

"Are you guys lost?" Sokka asked, boomerang in hand.

"We don't wish to hurt you," said the smirking man with the hat. "Your bounties are high for political reasons, not because you're a threat, so just surrender."

"Or don't. I don't mind hurting you," said the man in the gi, cracking his knuckles.

"Who put these bounties out? They're clearly fakes," said Azula.

The men laughed. "That's a new one," said the man in the gi. "Usually it's, 'That's an old poster!' or 'That's not me, you've got the wrong person!' The bounty is legit, kid."

"It's true, the bounty posting system is well-regulated," said the one in the hat. "Which is why what we're about to do to you is perfectly legal, given the violent resistance you've put up."

He slid his foot forward and threw his arm up as if delivering an uppercut to an opponent directly in front of him. A pillar of stone shot from the ground in front of Sokka who stood some twenty feet away, hitting him in the chest and knocking him backward.

While this happened, the man in the gi raised his palms in a forward sweeping gesture, making the ground in front of him all the way to Azula roil.

It was a weak attack meant to scare her and possibly knock her off balance. She took in a breath and let it out while extending her arm, from which a long cone of blue fire came billowing towards the two earthbenders. It hit the man with the gi in the chest and knocked him off his feet.

Her delight in seeing the hat man's smirk crumble propelled her into a series of whirling, dance-like movements that closed the distance between them. He did his own dance, throwing his arms up to create pillars of stone that shielded him from her attacks and tried to hit her as well.

Azula's spinning technique was designed to counter the earthbender's trick. Her feet and fists wreathed in flame, she struck the thin stone pillars with enough force to shatter them and send heated rocks flying at her enemy's face.

His last effort to stop her was to raise a wall of stone beneath her and throw her back, but she rolled over the top as it came up and used the height he had given her to build up more force for a downward swing of her heels. Each flaming heel came down on a shoulder, robbing his arms of their bending power and sending him to the ground.

She rolled backward onto her feet and was after him before he could recover. Grabbing his hat, she pulled it down, driving his head up through it. Using it like a collar, she spun him around so he was between her and where the man in the gi had fallen.

He was nowhere to be seen. Thinking he had run off, she wreathed her right hand in flame and was about to give the man she held something permanent to remember her by when an arm slipped around her throat and squeezed it like a vice, cutting off her wind and slowing the blood flow to her head. She gave the hat man a savage kick to the back that sent him sprawling, but it took more of her strength than she had anticipated.

"A firebender, eh?" said the man in the gi. "I was just going to dust you up a little, but now I think I'll see just how widely the bounty office will interpret 'alive.'"

Black spots were appearing before her when she heard a wet _thunk. _The man's grip on her went slack and she sunk to her knees as he fell away from her. Coughing, she forced air into her lungs and waited for the dizziness to pass.

By the time she recovered, Sokka had bound the man in the hat with the ropes the men had intended to use on them and was worrying over the limp form of the man in the gi.

Azula loomed over the hat man, letting him see the blue fire ball she toyed with in her palm. "That was sloppy. I take it you two are rookies?"

The man's lips curled and he stared at her as if his eyes could wound. "You're the talk of bounty hunters everywhere," he said. "You won't last much longer, not with the money being offered for you!"

"Who put the bounty out?" Azula asked.

"I don't know. It went through the bounty office. You can be turned over to the authorities anywhere in the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation."

"The bounty office?"

"It's one of the things Zuko worked on with the Earth King after that trouble with the colonies," said Sokka. "They created the Bounty Office. You want to put a bounty out, you pay the office, the office puts out the posters and distributes the money. You need a license to be a bounty hunter, though."

"Which I have," said the man in the hat.

"Shut up!" shouted Azula. "If you don't want to get cooked along with your boyfriend here, I suggest you tell me where a certain bounty hunter is. We're looking for her."

"Forget it," said Sokka, holding his chest where the rock had hit him. "She's the last person we want to meet now."

"All we need is her animal," said Azula. "And I can be persuasive."

"You must be talking about June," said the hat man. "With money like that on your head, she'll probably find you."

"Good point," said Azula, letting her flame dampen before making it flare again. "And so will every other scumbag on this continent who doesn't have a proper job, which means it's best you don't go telling any tales."

"Azula!" Sokka shouted. "Leave him alone."

She frowned and took small pleasure in seeing he had realized his error. "For the last time, it's pronounced 'Suzi,' idiot. Do you want to be fending off bounty hunters left and right?"

"He'll keep his mouth shut if he wants another crack at the money," said Sokka. "Isn't that right, Bounty Hunter Guy?"

"The name is Lo Mu, and yes, that's right." Lo Mu beamed up at Azula, thinking logic would protect him.

Azula doused her flames and wondered if her time in the asylum had made her weak or foolish. -I should kill them both and make him sorry for arguing with me,- she thought as she worked to bind Lo Mu more securely, along with the man in the gi. Sokka had not killed him, but the lump on his head was impressive and they decided not to tie him as tightly, figuring he would free himself and Lo Mu in a few hours when he woke up in the woods.

Perhaps thinking his skin still needed saving, Lo Mu told them where June had last been seen. It was not far from where they were, which made the walk back to Appa and Nekka a fast one.

Nekka's pale face and her wide, watery gray eyes greeted them on their return. Sokka told her about what had happened with the bounty hunters. Azula laid back on the rear of Appa's saddle, deciding she would wait until she was bored before asking about the name on her wanted poster.

**To be continued...**


	9. Chapter 8: Night Terrors

**Chapter VIII.**

**Night Terrors**

The spot Sokka picked to wait for June was a bare hilltop set above a steep, rocky incline and ringed on one side by a thick strip of trees that formed a barrier between the rocky ground and the rolling scrub land that would bleed into the Si Wong Desert to the west. The spot afforded them a view of the village in the distance as there was no way anyone could approach them unseen. Even at night it would be a challenge, as Sokka observed after they spent their first evening there.

The next day wore on and all the while Sokka expected questions from Azula about Suzi but none came. -She enjoys your discomfort,- he thought.

Had he thought that? He was not sure. What weighed on his mind the most was the time that was rolling by, and he also dreaded questions about how long they would wait for June before giving up and taking a different tack.

The sky was a ring of purple topped with dark blue, fading to black when Sokka sat down from gathering firewood. He asked Nekka for help changing his head bandage. Before the girl could move, Azula jumped up from where she sat across their as-yet unlit campfire. "I'll do it, she'll just muck it up."

"I...fine," said Nekka, moving aside so Azula could change the bandage.

Sokka had not needed much help, but after a hard slap to his hand he let Azula do as she wished. His only complaint was she could not seem to satisfy herself with the job and kept redoing it until finally he wiggled away from her. "It's fine, thanks," he said.

"Ingrate. The wound may be well on its way to healing, but the danger of infection is still there. And don't blame me if your ear heals crooked."

With a loud sigh, Nekka got up. "I'm going to get more firewood," she said and stormed off towards the trees where the darkness was gathering like cobwebs. Sokka considered calling her back, but decided to let her go.

"She's becoming a bit of a third wheel," said Azula.

Sokka rubbed his face and felt weary. Years of sleeping in a bed had not made the return to camping life kind to his back and his chest still hurt from the fight with the bounty hunters. "I'd be dead without that herb she found," he said.

"Yes, but what has she done lately?"

He looked at her, unsure if that was a joke. Something like good humor had come over her and he was not surprised when she finally asked, "Why did my wanted poster say my name was Suzi? Hard to imagine it was a misprint."

Sokka tried to imagine all the ways in which she could use the truth to plot treachery, but given the trouble they were already in he could think of no reason to withhold the secret. "Suzi is the name of the girl impersonating you," Sokka said, grinning as a thought came to him. "You two look so much alike I thought Ozai must have..."

"Finish that sentence and you'll need more bandages," she said, her hands and arms coming alive with blue flames.

He waved her off and the flames died. "But really, it's freaky how much she looks like you. I mean, anyone who knows you wouldn't be fooled, but your uncle said he could coach her."

"And this was all to prevent me from regaining control of the Fire Nation after my brother went missing?" Azula said. "How petty."

"Maybe. I think what's petty is we're trying to do this all on our own. I should have brought my sister with us to the Northern Water Tribe and we all should have told Chief Arnook what was really going on. Misso might have backed us up and he'd still be alive. We also wouldn't be on the run, which is going to make this a lot harder."

"It can't be helped now," she said. "What's bothering me is what's happening in the Fire Nation."

"What do you mean?" He leaned forward, feeling like he had let something slip. His entire body was a series of aches, it would not surprise him that his mind was dull.

"I may not be an expert on what clothing costs, but I know a king's ransom when I see one and that's what's being offered for our bounties. And seeing as how it went through the official bounty office, or whatever the stupid thing is, that means the money was paid up front."

"So?" He thought he knew where she was going with this, but could not make the leap.

"So, dummy, either a dirty cult of fish-eyed idiots has quite the rainy day fund, or someone with serious finances put out that bounty. Someone with access to a king's ransom, or a Fire Lord's."

"You think your uncle put out the bounty?"

"No, fool. Why would he? That letter sent to the Water Tribe was a fake, but this bounty is something else. You remember what that bounty hunter said about it being high for political reasons? I don't know what he meant by that, but given the money on the line and how official this Bounty Office is supposed to be, it raises more than a few questions."

"It couldn't have come from the Fire Nation," Sokka said. "Let's say it did, Iroh and the others would know, right?"

She threw up her hands. "Maybe dear uncle isn't in charge anymore, who knows? Maybe this Suzi girl isn't who you thought she was and is taking advantage of the situation. Maybe the Bounty Office was simply swindled, there's no way to tell!"

Sokka's head was humming. She was right, something was quite wrong and by the looks of it the problem was coming from the Fire Nation, the one place he thought the loose ends had been tied down. "Maybe...someone in the government is with the cult, or being controlled somehow. This just seems like a dumb way to go after us," he said.

Azula's evil smile was something he was glad was not being directed at his misfortune. "Perhaps our enemy's minions are not as well coordinated as we've given them credit for."

"The left tentacles don't know what the right tentacles are up to," said Sokka, pleased with his remaining wit. "Do you think Cthulhu himself knows you're Azula and not Suzi?"

Her smile left her face and she began to play with her hands, casting quick glances at the woods. "He knows my name," she said. "He says it when he truly wishes to torment me."

"You have those dreams every night," he said. "They look bad."

"They're worse than they look," she said, her face tightening. "Please, I don't like to think about them when I'm awake if I don't have to."

He was caught off guard by the "please," and noted her anger at the slip, a sign of weakness. He almost let it go, but instead he leaned towards her. "Look, I get it. I mean, I don't have it as bad as you, but..."

"Spare me your pity," she hissed.

"Pity and sympathy aren't the same thing," he said. "Whatever. I'm gonna go find Nekka. I don't think a fire is a good idea, at least until the shirshu-less bounty hunters give up searching the area and move on."

He saw she had turned red and was thinking of something nasty to say, but he managed to get far enough away in silence to where she would have to shout which she did not seem inclined to do.

The trees were coated in night and the sky was the color of a bruise. Sokka's head throbbed in between breaths and he wondered how bad his ear would look when it was fully healed. It was good to care about things like that, he thought. It meant some part of him thought it would matter later and it kept him from thinking about his friends and where they might be. He hoped he would not dream about them, that his nighttime vignettes would not reveal anything about what had happened to them. It was better not knowing unless he could do something about it.

Nekka was sitting on a log at the edge of a cluster of trees with her back to him, her blue tunic and hat like a strange pine tree. "Hey," he said, getting no response besides quiet sobbing. "I don't think we should be split up for too long. Bounty hunters are the least of our worries."

Nekka let out one sharp sob and nodded. "Give me another minute," she said.

"No problem. Look, for what it's worth I'm sorry about all of this."

"It's not your fault," she said, her voice clearing. She took off her hat and shook it before returning it to her head. "I just can't stand that girl. Why is she so mean?"

"She's been through a lot," he said.

"So have you," Nekka said, rubbing her eyes before turning around.

"Well, her dad was Fire Lord Ozai, and her mother wasn't there for here much, according to her, and..." He let out a sigh. "Yeah, she's pretty mean, but she's mean to everybody. Don't take it personal."

"I think she's dangerous, too," said Nekka.

"It's one of her better qualities, unfortunately."

Sokka turned towards their camp in time to see a flash of blue. He cursed, thinking Azula had decided to light the campfire against all reason and sense, but then there was another flash and a charge of adrenaline pumped through his brain.

"Come on, quick!" he shouted, drawing his boomerang and running to towards the flashes of fire.

He did not look to see if Nekka was behind him. She would be safer back there anyway. The night had drawn up quickly and he was able to see Azula bathed in the light of her blue flames, leaping and twirling in an open area not far from their campsite. Someone was fighting her, and he could see Appa farther off, near the tree line locked in a battle of his own with some colossal dark shape. A whip cracked the air.

"June!" he shouted. "June! Stop!"

"Hey, your boyfriend's here," June said, snapping her whip at Azula's feet, who jumped backward out of its reach.

In the light of dozens of tiny fires, Sokka saw that Azula was not having an easy time keeping June at bay. Her nose was bleeding and she had broken a sweat. June, a flickering shape in the dark, seemed none the worse for wear, but the smell of burnt hair hung over them like a cloud.

"June, will you just listen for a second, then we can go back to fighting, okay?"

June's whip coiled around his wrist and with a hard pull yanked him off balance. She was fast, too fast for him to get away from her before she pulled him the rest of the distance between them. He tried to duck under her, but she jerked him off balance and caught him in a reverse headlock with the crook of her elbow over his windpipe.

She flashed a blade before holding it against Sokka's ribs, freezing him. He struggled against her, but her thin muscles were like hard ropes. "Easy, fire-girl, unless you want lover boy here to get it," she said.

Azula stopped and for a moment Sokka thought he would die in a cone of blue fire along with June.

"Go ahead and stab him. He's had worse," Azula said.

"Whoa, when have I had worse!?" Sokka shouted.

June pulled him close and stuck the knife in his side just enough to make him cry out. "I'm serious. The bounty on you alone is enough for me to retire on."

"The bounty is bogus," croaked Sokka. "That's not even her name on the poster. Just let me explain."

"Nyla! Good boy!" shouted June as the shirshu came running up behind Azula. Sokka saw a white shape lying still in the distance and struck June's forearm with his fists. It was likely the bison was only temporarily paralyzed from the shirshu's poisonous tongue barbs, but he was furious all the same.

The shirshu's tongue flashed like a whip, and Sokka thought that would be it for Azula, but instead she twirled so the long appendage missed her by inches, then shot herself into the air with a blast of fire. Azula landed on the shirshu's back where she clung to its fur and ignited her free hand in a searing cone of blue flame.

"Stop!" June shouted. "Nyla, freeze!" The shirshu ceased its frantic bucking, and now it shook with rage and fear, its star-shaped nose quivering in the night air.

"Let the Water Tribe boy go, or your pet monster gets its nose burned off," Azula shouted.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"She totally would," said Sokka. "Look, June, she won't hurt Nyla if I tell her not to, which I'll do if you just agree to hear me out."

June squeezed his arm and brought her knife to his throat. "Fine, but if she so much as singes a hair, you'll last about two seconds, got it?"

She kicked him away and he fell to the ground. He got up and waved his hands at Azula. "Get down, let's talk," he said.

"No," said Azula. "We have the advantage, we should press it."

"Azula!" Sokka shouted, expecting a knife to appear in his back. It did not, and to his surprise and immense relief Azula's flames disappeared and she jumped off the shirshu's back.

Nyla sensed the fight was over and did not attack, but his growls were steady and aimed at Azula. Sokka looked at the beast's claws and saw no white fur or blood.

"I need to check on Appa," Sokka said.

"I'll go!" shouted Nekka, running up. June did not seem surprised to see her and Sokka wondered how long she had been watching the camp.

"He's just temporarily paralyzed," said June. "Nyla's instincts are to capture, not kill."

"Maybe we should go sit down," Sokka said. "What we have to say is going to take a while."

"That's too bad," said June. "Because you've got five minutes before Nyla and I take you both down."

Sokka held up a finger and collected his thoughts. He explained that Aang had been kidnapped by sea monsters acting on behalf of an evil spirit called Cthulhu, and it was likely the Fire Lord and their friends had met the same fate. He told her about the cult and the flying monsters, then about the book they were after and where they thought it could be found.

"Which is why we were actually the ones looking for you all along," Sokka said, knowing he sounded like a madman. "We want Nyla's help sniffing out that library."

June said nothing, letting Sokka wilt in the cloud of insanity he had spouted. Her ringing laugh cracked the air like her whip. "Either you've been drinking from the cacti that grow around here or you think I'm stupid."

"I know how it sounds, and that's why we've kept it to ourselves," said Sokka. "If I was lying, don't you think I'd have a better story?"

"Seeing as how the Fire Lord and his entourage came back a week or so ago, yeah, I think your story could be much better."

Sokka was suddenly aware of the night being filled with the sounds of chirping insects, night birds, and other nocturnal callers. Nyla had stopped growling. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

June's sigh was almost a snarl. "The Fire Lord and the ones who went looking for the Avatar came back days ago. It was Fire Lord Zuko himself who commissioned the bounty on you two. Story is you killed the Avatar, took his bison, and ran off."

Sokka thought he was going to pass out. It was Azula's derisive snort that brought him upright again. "Well that's a lie. Clearly the rumor mill becomes distorted this far from the capital."

"I talked to Zuko in person. He said I'd be paid a bonus if I brought you directly to him," June said.

Sokka shook his head, his wound making him dizzy. "That's impossible," he said.

"It would explain a lot of things," said Azula.

Still shaking his head, Sokka conceded to himself that he had no idea what Cthulhu was truly capable of and felt foolish for doubting its power. -But,- he thought. -But then Zuko, or whoever it is, put Suzi's name on the bounty, not Azula's.-

"June, what's that girl's name?" he asked.

"What?

"The firebender here, can you tell me her name?"

June sighed. "Suzi, or something like that. Look, if you're done I'd like to get back to fighting so I can get some sleep tonight."

"There's no way the real Zuko would be fooled by Suzi," said Sokka. "June, was there anything different about Zuko that you noticed?"

June cast her whip behind her, preparing to strike. "He seemed fine to me," she said, her eyes black pits on her round, olive face. "Princess Azula didn't look so hot, though, but I guess being in an asylum for a few years will do that to you."

"I'm Princess Azula. I would think my firebending abilities prove it."

June's whip moved in the dust behind her like a snake. Nyla growled, his powerful claws digging into the dirt. Sokka adjusted his grip on his boomerang and hoped Nyla would not tag him with his tongue before he could knock June out with a well-timed throw while she was distracted by the lightning that was sure to be coming her way soon.

"It doesn't really matter who you are, kids. Fact is, when I turn you over to Zuko I'm going to be rich. Even if your stupid story is true, I don't care."

Her whip came for Sokka, cracking in front of his face. Azula did not attack June, but instead spread a line of fire on the ground between her and the shirshu, blocking its tongue attack but not its charge.

-Azula can handle Nyla, I just need to keep June busy,- Sokka thought.

June was employing the same strategy, keeping him busy while counting on Nyla to come out on top against Azula. The shirshu's thick fur and constant attacks protected it from the worst of Azula's flames and left the firebender with not enough time to preform the motions required to create a lightning bolt powerful enough to stop the giant beast. Still, Azula was nimble and full of energy. She seemed to have shaken off the withering effects of her confinement and was fighting like her old self, which Sokka could not help but find terrifying despite being on her side.

"June, I can prove what we're saying is true, I just need a little time," he said, dodging her whip when he could, and swatting it from the air with his boomerang when he could not. She was keeping away from him, wearing him down until she could get in close and disable him. Hopefully not fatally, he thought.

"We can pay you double later if you help," he said, out of ideas.

Something suddenly hit him in the back, and he fell forward. Whatever was on top of him was lifting him upward. He heard June's cry of surprise then the crack of her whip. "Let go! He's mine!"

He screamed when he saw what had grabbed him. It was a mass of claws and tiny hooks wrapped in leathery skin. The thing that held him had been latched onto by another creature, which was free to flap its patagia and raise him into the air. Azula had been attacked as well, and was being taken up.

Nyla leaped, catching Azula's feet in his teeth. She shouted in pain, but Sokka had his own troubles to focus on. He was caught in a tug-of-war between the monster and June, whose whip had coiled around his ankle. Sokka threw his head back, trying to strike the creature in what might have been its face, but to little avail.

Sokka heard a splash and the sound of water freezing. He fell to the ground and saw Nekka had returned. His hip hurt from the fall, his head felt like it had broken open.

lightning bolts were now flying freely and strange creatures were hitting the ground. The one that had held Sokka was still on top of him, and he struggled to get free of it as June attacked it with her blade. It thrashed about, but the knife was not having the desired effect on it. Sokka suddenly felt his legs go cold and he could not move them.

"Sorry!" Nekka shouted.

The lightning bolts had stopped, and the creature was pried off him. Azula sent a bolt into its body and it twitched before falling still. The ice that held his legs was not strong and crumbled easily, allowing him to stand.

As he caught his breath and held his head while it pounded him with pain, he watched June's face go from curiosity, to revulsion, then finally to horror. Azula held her hand up with a flickering blue flame, making sure June could get a thorough look at the dead creatures.

They were of the same ilk that attacked them over the northern sea. Sokka could make no better sense of them now than he could then. They looked as if someone had plagiarized nature with the intent of mocking it. Their bodies were covered in all manner of hooks, small tentacles, and suckers. These allowed one to hold a captive while another would latch on, carrying its fellow like a bag.

Sokka noted a long, tube-like organ near their heads that made him think, -Nose.- Above that was a set of black orbs, like insect eyes, but he had to look away when he saw two orbs set next to one another, their dead irises and pupils having not completely rolled back into their sockets.

"W-what...what in the name of..." June was rubbing her arms, keenly aware she had touched one of the things in the battle.

"Star-spawn," said Nekka. "Servants of Cthulhu."

June shook her head and rested herself against Nyla who had come up behind her. She was caught between wanting to turn away from the dead creatures and not wanting them behind her unattended.

"Well, does this change things or are we fighting again?" asked Sokka.

June composed herself and tossed a loose strand of hair out of her pale face. Her eyes were black holes in the dark, but Sokka could see them darting between him, Azula, and the things. "I don't know. These things are just..."

"They don't belong here," said Azula. "They don't belong anywhere in this world, just look at them."

Sokka was happy to hear his own sentiments expressed by another. There was no way to describe the star-spawn, as Nekka called them, that conveyed the sense of wrongness one got from looking upon their still forms. Even the Old Ones, and to a lesser extent the shoggoths, seemed normal by comparison.

He noted the creatures seemed to be shriveling, losing their horrid forms and becoming featureless, shrinking masses.

"Okay," said June, watching them melt. "They're ugly alright, but not so ugly the bounty on you two doesn't still look good."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Sokka.

"Hold your ostrich horses, kid. They are ugly enough to buy you that time you wanted to plead your case."

"Good," said Sokka, looking across the clearing to Appa, who was still like a pile of late-season snow. The bison appeared to be on his feet, making Sokka breathe easier. "Let's move our camp into the woods over by Appa. I don't want to be out in the open anymore."

This thought was shared by all, and to make the move quicker even June aided them in getting under cover. Sokka let himself shudder at the notion of what might have happened had the star-spawn attacked them before June had.

-Somehow they're tracking you,- he thought. -If I only knew where they were being sent from I could take a guess at when their next attack might be.-

-You'll never learn that. Best assume the worst.-

He jolted at that last thought, wondering where it had come from. It felt like someone had spoken to him, but all he heard was his inner voice.

Sokka put those thoughts aside, for he was quite keen to hear more about what was happening in the Fire Nation from June. She, however, wanted to hear their story again, and in more detail. After Appa recovered from the shirshu's poison, they reestablished their camp under the cover of the forest. There, Sokka told June what he knew.

"So you're going to defeat this Cthulhu-thing with some old book you think is buried in the desert and you need me and Nyla to help you find it?" June was leaning against a tree, her expression unreadable in the dark. Sokka's night vision had returned and he could make out her outline but little else. Her arms were crossed and she still seemed unimpressed by his tale. "And let me guess, you don't have any money now, but you'll pay me when this is all over?"

Sokka let out a long sigh, prepared to beg if he had to. He knew it would not work, but he had to be able to say he tried. "Yeah, that's pretty much it," he said.

Azula had said nothing so far. He could feel her behind him in the shadows, preparing to do who-knew-what.

"I gotta say, kid, if it hadn't been for those flying creatures and the fact that your two friends here are backing you up on this I'd have you on the back of Nyla right now."

"So you'll help!?" Sokka said, his mood suddenly brightening.

"Slow down, that desert isn't a joke. I've done you and your crew little favors before, but I don't do danger on credit."

"We don't have much money on us, but maybe we could...I dunno, help you on a bounty job? All proceeds go to you, of course?"

"I work..."

"Forget it," Azula said, airily. "Sokka, you're talking to a mercenary, someone who only understands money. If she understood the greater implications of what's happening, she'd work for free."

"Azula..." Sokka could see no reason to call her off besides the thin wisp of hope he was clinging to that he could still sway June.

Azula, walked between Sokka and June. The air had become heavy and both the sky bison and shirshu moved restlessly between the trees. Where Nekka had gone, Sokka did not know.

"I've only got one question for our bounty hunting friend," said Azula.

"And what's that, Sparky?" asked June.

If Azula had bristled at the nickname, she did not show it either in her body or voice. "Where do you stand on what we just said to you? Do you believe us, or not?"

"You're not lying, that much is clear. You're not completely nuts, either. I guess I'm just very confused."

"It's not that confusing," said Azula. "It's very simple, really. Something very old that has been asleep for a very long time has become restless and is close to waking up. When he wakes up, life as we know it ends. That book buried out there in the desert is our only chance, and the only way we'll ever see it is if we have your help."

"How come you didn't tell this to anyone else?" June asked.

"Because it sounds crazy," said Sokka. "You saw those things with your own eyes and you still don't believe us."

"Plus, some things are better off secret," said Azula. "When you were at the Fire Nation was there anything else strange? Anything you might have missed?"

"Now that you mention it, that dirty old man who always hung around the Fire Lord was nowhere to be seen. I asked about him but no one would give me a straight answer," said June, stroking her chin.

"Iroh," said Sokka, taking a deep breath to steady his swimming head. If some kind of imposter-Zuko had returned, Iroh was not apt to have been fooled by him. "Did you see anyone else that used to hang around with Avatar Aang? My sister, maybe? A blind earthbender?"

"No, I don't think so," said June. "It wasn't really a social call."

"We'll worry about what's happening in the Fire Nation later," said Azula. "Right now we need that book. If you help us, I can guarantee you'll be adequately rewarded. I'm a princess, you know."

June touched her chin before smiling. "I want double the bounties posted on you," she said. "And I want that in writing."

"Deal," said Azula, prudently waiting a few moments to respond. "We leave in the morning."

"Slow down, princess, I didn't come prepped for a trek across the Si Wong and neither did you. We'll need water. A lot of water, mainly for Nyla and your sky bison. Three days is as long as I'll look, and that includes the time it takes to leave the desert."

"We only need you to find the library. After that, where you go is your own business," said Azula.

Sokka felt relieved, despite a few logistical problems he foresaw. He clapped his hands together all the same to seal the deal. "Great, June's on board and all we need is a lot of water, which we'll start getting first thing tomorrow, right Nekka?"

He had seen her move, somewhere close to Appa beyond the firelight.

"Right," Nekka said.

"And I don't need to tell you that what was said here, stays here. Provided you want your payment," said Azula.

"Pfft. I'd have to understand it to be able to repeat it, plus I think you're going to learn that keeping a lid on things is tougher than you think. Good night, kids. It's been a long one and I'd advise you post a watch."

Sokka thought that was good advice.

**To be continued...**


	10. Chapter 9: Water Skins

**Chapter IX.**

**Water Skins**

Sokka awoke thinking he had been dreaming about the Day of Black Sun. It had been a common recurring dream of his since the war had ended, but had become rarer as time wore on. Every so often it would return to him, never quite becoming a true nightmare. Since his encounter on the beach, however, none of his dreams had been normal and it was nice to pretend this one had not been about him inhabiting the body of a monster.

Only that was not true; he could not deny it. Why the faded dream had felt like a Black Sun dream, he could not say, for he did not remember it. -People worry too much about dreams anyway,- he thought.

-You should worry about them more.-

He sat up quickly, wanting to ask who had thought that, but he knew it had been him. Or had it?

Aware he was being watched, he made a show of yawning and looked over a small cook fire to see Azula wide awake and starring at him. The smoke made it hard to tell if she was scowling at him or had something else on her mind.

Nekka was in the process of waking up while June was on her feet and using a nearby tree to assist with her morning stretches.

"Now that the waterbender is awake we can get to work," said Azula.

"Maybe we should eat first," he said.

She rolled her eyes for a reply and he broke out their eating utensils. With Nekka's help, Sokka made some spiced rice and beans. June joined them, smelling his cooking before she ate it and nodding in approval at the taste.

"It gets old after a while," said Azula.

"Hey, this here's real food. Not that fancy stuff royals eat," said Sokka, taking a bite.

"I suppose it is better than prison food," Azula said.

"Prison food," Sokka grumbled, and they continued their meal in silence. He thought the beans had come out a little tough and the rice was wetter than it needed to be, but the spicing was perfect. As he was trying to determine what was causing the smokey after-taste, he noticed Azula appeared to have started a staring contest with June.

"Something wrong, Sparky?" June asked.

"I was just thinking that being a bounty hunter must not pay very much," Azula said, her back stiffening at the nickname.

"The pay is outstanding, actually."

"Have you been doing it for a long time?"

"Years," June said. "And if you've got a crack about my age, I suggest you stow it. You're half my age and look like you've got one foot in the grave."

Sokka felt as though he had just taken too long to notice a grass fire and did not know if he should stamp it out or run. All he could think was that June's comment had been unfair. Azula looked much better since leaving the asylum, even if her eyes did sport dark circles from lack of sleep.

"I didn't mean to strike a nerve," said Azula, stirring her food. "You shouldn't be sensitive about your age. Worried, perhaps, but not sensitive."

"Okay. Let's do this," June said, setting her bowl down and getting to her feet. She uncoiled her whip almost casually, but there was nothing casual about how she was standing. Sokka jumped up as Azula did and stood between the two women.

"Wow, how the morning can slip away! Azula, Nekka, maybe you guys should take a few skins and find a good place to fill 'em. I'll come along after ya."

"Why don't you and your little tribal friend go yourselves? June and I have something to finish up." She set her hand on his shoulder and tried to push him aside, but he did not budge.

"Not happening," said Sokka, stepping towards her, making her back up. He brought his face close to hers and hoped he would come off as a co-conspirator, not someone trying to intimidate her. He was in trouble if she felt threatened. "I don't know what your problem is today, but do the smart thing and take a walk while I smooth this over."

He knew if he flinched this would not work, she would go through him to get to June. "Fine," Azula hissed, jabbing Sokka hard in the shoulder with her finger. "But if she thinks she can talk down to me, I'll show her, and you. Girl! Let's go. Quickly."

He gave Nekka a sorry smile and watched her gather up some skins, then shuffle meekly behind Azula through the hazy woods towards the distant rush of water. Sokka waited until they were out of sight, and when he turned to June he saw she had resumed her breakfast.

"So, you got a thing for Sparky, or what?" June asked, pointing with her chopsticks to the trees in the direction the benders had gone.

"N-no! No way! Her?" He made a show of having the shivers. "That's crazy. What gave you that idea?"

"I'm a woman, I can tell. Plus that's the story that's been put out from the Fire Nation capital, only her name is supposed to be Suzi or something. Weren't you sweet on a Kyoshi Warrior named Suzi?"

"Suki," said Sokka. "She's one of the people missing."

"Really? I thought I saw her around when I was there, but it's hard to tell Kyoshi Warriors apart. I think for that Suki girl's sake she should stay missing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

June twirled her chopsticks as she finished off a mouthful of food. "You say you don't have it for Sparky, but Sparky has it for you. She's got a funny way of showing it, but let's put it this way, I'd hate to be a woman anywhere near you." Her exasperated smirk over her breakfast was difficult to argue with.

Sokka rubbed his hands together, having felt a chill radiating down his arms from his chest. "I don't know, she was in an asylum for three years, I think she's just maladjusted or something."

"That may be, but I know a natural-born bitch when I see one. You should go after her."

"Say what now?"

"You won't find many like her. She wants you, you want her, go for it. Make a pass, see what she does."

"She'll blow my heart out of my chest with a bolt of lightning," Sokka said, his cheeks warming to counter the cold in his middle. "She's tried to kill me and my friends, my family..."

June shrugged and set her plate down. "During the war, right? War's over, kid."

"No, it..." he curled his lips inward. The war was over, wasn't it? It had been over for a long time. "You don't know her. She's sneaky, scheming, cruel..."

"Strong, determined, smart. Granted she's still a total hornet badger, and crazy, but she's royalty, right? That makes up for a lot."

Mad, half-formed thoughts were prancing between Sokka's ears, tearing at him with black claws and trying to fly away on dark wings. Insane, stupid, fantastical thoughts that made his good ear flush red. He took a breath and bit by bit put his outer self back to normal. "Look, I just don't want you to let her get to you. What we're doing out here is no joke and we need you for it to work out."

June smiled with one side of her mouth and shook her head. "Sparky doesn't have it in her to offend me that badly. I was just going to teach her some manners with a light flogging, that's all."

"In all seriousness, it wouldn't be a good idea to cross her. She's easily the world's strongest firebender."

Shaking her head slowly, June tossed her hair from her face and redid her top knot which was held together with a skull-shaped pin. "Sorry kid, you got it bad for her. I doubt anyone else could have made her back down from a fight like you just did."

"Whatever," said Sokka, rubbing the back of his neck and wishing he could stop blushing.

His mind had other ideas, though. It had been a struggle to keep his thoughts on the mundane tasks before him, to focus completely on the present and not go mad over the future. Sokka's inner theater had been slipping as of late. He now fought nebulous visions of being in a submarine as it cruised over the sunken, winding streets of R'lyeh as it festered at the bottom of the ocean or wherever it was. When he pictured his friends he could only see them as floating, glassy-eyed still forms. Dead, but dreaming.

The thoughts he had now about Azula, while equally mad and more ethereal were a welcome reprieve and he let himself be taken down that path, away from the cold emptiness and into a place of fire.

He moved away from June, lest she see his mind reflected on his face. Azula and Nekka had returned, their arms empty of water skins.

"We left the skins for you to carry," Azula said, walking in front of Nekka, whose face was bent towards where she intended to step.

They sat back down and Sokka made everyone tea. Azula had become larger, her every move something to track and take note of. He could see June's ghost of a simper, and diverted his attention to Nekka. She was upset, but no damage had been done.

June finished her tea and coiled her whip before fixing it to her hip. "We're going to need more water skins," she said, going over to Nyla and leaning against the slumbering beast's black coated hide.

"I've got money for twelve," Sokka said, searching for his coin purse. The salary he had drawn as ambassador had been modest, and most of it was back in the Fire Nation with the rest of his belongings along with with his war club.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," June mumbled. "I'll lend you enough for twelve more. Big ones. Send the mousy girl unless you two plan to fight your way out of town."

After some talk and some more of June's muttering it was decided that she and Nekka would make the run for water skins, using Nyla to haul them back. With waterbending they would be easily filled, and the expedition could begin.

"So," said Azula, when the others had left. "Any new thoughts on this business with Zuko?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," Sokka said. "You said your dreams are messages from Cthulhu, maybe you've got some idea of what he can do. Make copies of people? Take over minds?"

Her face narrowed. "I wouldn't know. I noticed you haven't been sleeping well, either. Maybe you know something," she said.

Sokka raised his eyebrow high. He knew he likely appeared fitful in his sleep, but was curious as to why she thought he was learning anything while out.

"I woke up in the middle of the night, as I often do, and noticed you were also having something of a fit. You said two words that sounded familiar to me. "Mi-Go" and "Yuggoth," said Azula.

"And those are?"

She turned her head haughtily to the side and laughed. "I have no idea. I don't think I've ever truly heard the words before. Lets ask our resident monster expert when she gets back; hopefully she'll be good for something besides eating our food and fetching water."

Sokka responded with a disgusted sigh and looked about the camp for something to do besides talk to Azula. June's words were sticky in his mind and he felt like a self-aware drunk, knowing he was about to say something foolish yet unable to stop. He staved off this impulse by getting the water skins left by the river, but the drunk urge was still there when he was done and there was nothing to do for the camp besides wait until Nekka and June got back.

"Something bothering you?" Azula asked, intrigued by his poor attempts to ignore her.

He was scanning the blue skies for dark shapes. "Besides everything? No. I just can't stop thinking about the others."

"One obstacle at a time, just like in the mountains, remember?" she said, sounding oddly comforting. Perhaps more so than she had intended.

"What did you think of June? Aside from wanting to pick a fight with her." Sokka asked, knowing he was courting unpleasantness, but would say anything to steer this talk away from foolishness.

"She's as crude as any peasant I've ever had the misfortune to meet, but she seems capable."

"The nose on her shirshu is something else, I just hope it works in the desert."

"You should hope we don't waste our time digging up every loose scrap of paper that's gone blowing over the dunes," Azula said.

"If we don't find the book we'll have to go back to the Fire Nation and sort things out," Sokka said. "I just hope Katara is alright."

"We'll have quite a pair of family reunions. Me and what may or may not be Zuzu, and you and your sister, who I'm sure was thrilled about being left behind. Let's look her up first, it should be amusing."

Sokka frowned. She was like the wind around a campfire, fine one moment then blowing irritating smoke over him the next. "You should watch out for her, you're not her favorite person," he said.

"Pfft. I'm no one's favorite person," she said, looking between the trees where a rat squirrel was tossing up dead leaves as it fled a snake.

"Nekka was pretty quiet earlier. You weren't mean to her, were you?"

"I was the picture of civility," said Azula. She grinned, cocking her head to the side. "Soon, I may be nice to her. Sometimes you have to show how unpleasant you can be before you act nice. It makes them want to please you more."

"Wow."

"Oh, don't be self-righteous," she said. "Everyone does it, they just aren't honest about it. Go ahead and think your friends are your friends because they like you. That may be, but the reality is you just stumbled around the world until you bumped into people who shared your values. So what if I'm a little more deliberate?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess that's one way of looking at it," he said. With his head tilted back, his eyes towards the sky the blood in his head flowed into a certain part of his brain, sparking it to full life. "Question. Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Going on this stupid quest with me? You know we don't stand a chance. Sure, things are messing with you in your dreams, but we're probably headed to where those things live so they can mess with us in person. If you really hate everybody and think they hate you, then what do you get out of this?"

She stood as if attacked. "We've been over this, my survival depends on our success."

"Does it? Cthulhu sends you these dreams, why? What does he want from you?"

"To drive me mad, of course. What else?" Her lip was quivering, whether in anger or in something else it did not matter. "What are you trying to suggest, savage?"

-Ooh, she's mad now,- he thought, but did not care. A meanness had come over him to replace the chill he had been feeling and he found it easier to manage. "I was just thinking about how monsters keep finding us, your dreams, how they're really messages from Cthulhu. He hasn't made you any, I don't know, offers..."

She screamed and ran at him, diving into his chest with her shoulder. The back of his head hit the ground and he was submerged for a moment, breaking the surface only to find himself under a barrage of open-handed slaps. When he blocked them, she grabbed the front of his tunic and shook him hard, stopping only when he grabbed her by her thin, powerful wrists.

"Get off!" he shouted, trying to throw her. She did not weigh much, but her legs were like a vice around his hips. Her hands found his neck and as they squeezed he drew his boomerang. One of her hands slapped to his forearm, holding it down.

"Enough!" he said, and she stopped, keeping him held where he was, her breathing heavy, black strands of hair hanging in front of her face like cobwebs.

"Don't you ever..."

"I'm sorry," he said. "Okay, I'm sorry. I was thinking out loud, I shouldn't have said it."

"I'll never serve him. Never, do you hear me!? Never!"

"Alright, alright, I believe you! It's just, you don't make any sense."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sokka had thought to put up a strong front, but something told him a little cringing right now would not hurt, and so he tried to sink himself deeper into the loam of the forest floor. No fire had appeared yet, but his neck and left jawline stung from where her nails had grazed him.

"I just wanted to know why you came along. You seemed so down on everything, it's like you don't think there's a point in fighting but here you are."

She relaxed her grip on his arm and neck, but remained on top of him, studying his face. "What does it matter to you?" she asked.

"It matters," he said. "When I was with Aang and my sister, and Toph, we all knew why we were there, and we could all talk to each other. It made what we had to do doable. I don't know how to explain it...you're just hard to talk to is all I'm saying."

He no longer had any idea what he was saying and was babbling; not from fear, for if she conjured fire he knew a hard punch to her unprotected stomach with his free hand would save him.

No fire came and instead she slid off him, taking a seat in the loam by his side. "Well of course talking is hard, we don't have anything decent to talk about. All we have in common is monsters and hardship."

"There's...other stuff, probably," he said.

"No there isn't," she said.

"Come on, let's think. Uh, ooh, I know. The Ember Island Players, Zuko said your whole family would go see them every year. We can talk about how bad they suck."

Sunlight was beaming down on them in spots, broken and fragmented by the small-leaved trees and their branches. No breeze moved them and their tussle had put the small birds and rodents that infested the forest on silent alert.

Azula was fixing her hair, her lips pursed as she inwardly rehearsed what she was about to say. "Right before I boarded that stupid airship, I, Zuzu, and those two little traitors took a trip to Ember Island. We didn't go to the theater, but one night we ended up being invited to a party. I made the biggest fool out of myself. There was a boy there I had an eye for and I couldn't speak to him properly no matter how hard I tried. I mean, I could speak to him, but it came out like this. Stupid. I tried to tell a joke, it was horrible. We had to burn the building down."

Sokka chuckled, too late realizing that had not been a joke. Her eyes smoldered, and she moved to stand, caught in a panic. "Forget I said that. If you dare bring it up, I'll..."

"Easy, easy, I won't make fun of you," he said. "So, you're a dork is what you're trying to say?" Flames engulfed her hands. "Aah! That wasn't a jab. Relax, it's alright. I'm kind of a dork, too."

"That's not what I heard," she said, her flames going out. "The spies who managed to return information on your little group during the war all said you were known to be a charmer, someone who could get his way with both peasants and nobles."

On his feet, he brushed the loam from his clothes. "There's some truth to that, I guess, but you know it never felt like that. Sometimes I felt like the group clown, the guy who couldn't bend, that everyone laughed at and didn't really respect. For every cool thing I did, two stupid things would happen. This one time I walked into a poetry school or something and got into, I don't know, like a haiku fight with the teacher. I mean, is that even a thing? Do people..."

"I have a question for you," she said, hands on her hips. "Why are you talking to me like this? You don't like me, you've got nothing more to gain from me, what do you want?"

Sokka hoped he would see Nyla's furry body slinking through the trees before he had to answer, but the woods was slowly coming back to its normal volume, featuring chirps and creaking branches, yet no bipedal footfalls.

"I just think maybe it's time you and I got past where we've been," he said, his blushing feeding on itself, making his face burn. "I know you can be nice. Maybe around me and Nekka you can give the scary girl a break? Tone down the awful a little when it comes to her, maybe?"

She looked at him with her mouth parted slightly in astonishment. "The spies were wrong, you are one of the densest people I've ever met. I'm not some lonely girl who needs to learn how to make friends. I'm not like other people. I had friends once and I thought we were all clear on the terms of that friendship, but we weren't. I won't make that mistake again."

Sokka almost let the conversation die, for he had begun to sweat. "So you got burned by your friends, now no more friends ever? You seemed happy when I said I'd be your friend someday."

She scowled. "I thought we were doomed. Stop haranguing me."

"I'm not trying to annoy you for fun. This is what friends do for each other when one is upset, they talk." A look from her made him pause, then shrug. "Like you said, I'm the closest thing you've got to a friend. It's not perfect, but you can't tell me you think we're going to beat this squid monster thing without some kind of...I dunno...bond."

"Bond?"

"Bad word. Uh...connection? Partnership? Can we just agree we don't hate each other anymore? I'm not saying I'm going to forget anything from before, but these long journeys are tough when you have to be with people you don't like."

Sokka thought he had lost her, but her expression softened. "Very well. You're annoying, but I'll concede that I no longer hate you.

He extended his hand. "Friends?"

She sighed and clasped his hand, her palm warm against his. "Friends."

They stood in the imperfect silence of the forest, not speaking, letting their previous words settle in the loam. Appa grunted as he ate whatever vegetation he could reach while small forest animals rustled leaves and bent branches. Sokka knew these sounds well from all his time spent camping, but Azula's head turning at every loud creak of tree trunk and snapping of branch made it hard for him to relax.

He could see the clearing where they had first camped through the trees, and now he looked to see the back of Nyla poke above a stony hill crest. The shirshu was loaded with water skins, while Nekka and June walked alongside him.

"That's a lot of water skins," Sokka said.

"If we were sane we'd have a caravan of camelephants carrying all this, but we're not so here we are," said June. "Well, let's get to filling them up. I could be out making money right now."

Azula stiffened but said nothing as she helped Nekka and Sokka take the skins to the brook where Nekka bent water into them. The work was slower than expected as Nekka's skills lie more in scrolls than in bending, but by the afternoon Appa and Nyla were ready to be loaded with copious amounts of water. "Alright, let's get some lunch now then by the time we're ready with the water we'll be set to head off," said June.

"At night?" asked Sokka, testing the tie string on one of the more bloated skins.

"You've got two options in the desert," June said. "Really hot or really cold. You all look better dressed for cold, so we go at night."

Sokka nodded. He had been living the sedentary life for too long and had forgotten about the desert's secret love of cold. It was nothing compared to the south pole, but even a Water Tribesman like himself could use a blanket when the dunes were dark.

Once again they found themselves sitting around a fire, pretending they weren't looking at each other. Sokka felt no hostility now, only a keen sense of embarrassment. "Did you fall down?" June asked. "You've got some new scratches."

"Figured I'd get a little more firewood. Fell down," Sokka said. "Story of my life. You wouldn't happen to have a map, would you?"

From her boot she tossed him a crumpled piece of parchment. "I forgot it was in there," she said. "Been around as long as I have and you stop needing one."

It was a map of the Earth kingdom that included a bit of the Fire Nation as well. June's regular stomping grounds, he supposed. June showed him where they were and from that he was able to tell that it would be a day or so before they were in the Si Wong Desert itself. He told June what he remembered about the ancient library's location, mainly how it was not far from the giant buzzard wasp mound that served as the desert's magnetic center.

"Narrowing the spot down helps," said June. "But don't be surprised if we hit a few false leads. Paper might be more common out there than you think."

When their camp was cleaned, their normal gear stowed, and water skins fetched and tied, they set off towards the Si Wong Desert. Appa flew low and Sokka held his reins loose while watching the dark sky for flying terrors.

**To be continued...**


	11. Chapter 10: Sand and Paper

**Chapter X. **

**Sand and Paper**

The rocky scrub land bordering the Si Wong had gone on for miles and bled seamlessly into the sand, allowing the desert to creep up beneath them in the night. They found themselves surrounded by dunes baking in the morning sunlight, the scrub lands they had traveled over now a distant memory.

A blue, merciless sky stretched on forever above them, its color free from the taint of clouds. Sky, wind, and sand made Sokka think of the tsunami that had hit the Fire Nation. It seemed like it had happened years ago while his last trip to the Si Wong Desert now felt only weeks behind him.

The company he kept prevented his sense of nostalgia from running away with him. Azula looked listlessly out over the sand dunes while Nekka sat cross-legged at the back of the saddle, preferring her inner world to the life on Appa's back.

He sorely regretted leaving Katara behind in the Fire Nation, especially given what he had heard from June. -Katara would know to handle this,- he thought.

Most of his worries regarding his sister stemmed from knowing how she would react to his treason. She would not sit idly by in the Fire Nation, hiding while he traipsed about the world to save Aang and the others. Her first stop would be the Northern Water Tribe and he hoped they had been wrong about there still being cult members in the city, hidden in dark corners like clutches of fish eggs under rocks.

He wondered how she would explain everything to Arnook. Would she make him sound crazy? Did she think he was? No, there was the monster on the beach, remember?

-Yes, the thing nobody got a good look at aside from you, and the people who might be doppelgangers. Possibly a few soldiers, who probably thought it was a squid.-

Sokka shook his head, but not to clear it. His thoughts had been alarmingly lucid as of late, just, unfamiliar.

He peered around Appa's neck to make sure he was still on the track of June and Nyla, who bounded over shallow, hard dunes in the rising heat. June would signal a stop soon, he guessed, and did not want to lose her while deep in his own thoughts.

Something stung the back of his head. "Ow! What the...?" A small pebble was nestled between his tunic and neck. He looked back, Azula was smiling.

"Hit another bug?"

"You...where did you find a rock?"

She patted a pocket on her tunic so he could here the rattle of stones. "I knew I'd get bored up here sooner or later and that you'd throw a fit if I used fire to annoy you, so rocks it is."

He flicked the stone back at her and missed by a fair bit. With no idea of what to make of this he settled down to ponder it, but saw June was waving her coiled whip and pointing to a spot up ahead.

It was mid-morning and the sun had made even the breezy air over Appa's saddle intolerably hot. June had signaled them towards a long rock formation with an overhang that was free of shifting sand. Appa landed, and along with Nyla weighed down two large canvasses June had bought in addition to the water skins. This formed a clumsy tent against the high, stone overhang, the shade of which kept the animals from wanting to move.

Nyla was panting hard and June let the creature drink most of a large water skin while Appa consumed the other half. Sokka had long ago noted that sky bison, or at least Appa, shared some of the camelelephant's ability to go without food or water for a long period of time, but unlike them he was not immune to the desert's heat.

"You two take first watch. Me and the girl are going to catch some shut eye," said June, laying down against Nyla beneath the canvass.

"Good idea. Your age and her inexperience are liabilities," said Azula.

June responded with a loud yawn while Azula wrapped her head and face in a scarf. Sokka did the same, shielding himself from the heat and sand.

"I knew this place would be dull, but I underestimated it," said Azula, stepping closer to the rock where the sand was harder.

"I could find you some cactus juice. That would make things pretty interesting," he said, shuddering at the notion of Azula hallucinating.

"I'll pass," said Azula.

They stood in silence for a time and Sokka thought this would be a fine opportunity to see if he could have a normal conversation with Princess Azula, but shuffling sand and the flap of canvass announced the arrival of Nekka who wore a scarf around her face. She joined the other two in the shade of the rock.

"I'm not tired," said Nekka. "I couldn't sleep if I was."

"Ah, I'd almost forgotten," said Azula, her voice pleasant and unashamedly false. "Sokka was babbling in his sleep the other night and he said two things that I found rather interesting. "Mi-Go," and "Yuggoth." Are those real words, or nonsense?"

Nekka's eyes widened in the cave formed by her scarf and hat. Her fear and hatred of Azula seemed overcome by an inner swell that animated her hands. "No, no, those are things. A-and it might help explain this oddness with the Fire Lord!"

"Spit it out, then!" Azula snapped. Frowning at Sokka, she bowed. "I mean, do go on."

"Well, the Mi-Go are said to be a race of beings from the stars, like the Old Ones. They live on a world known as Yuggoth, which relatively speaking is close to our own. Now, the old writings talk about Cthulhu as being a conqueror. He conquered the Old Ones for sure, and it's possible he also enslaved the Mi-Go."

"Like he enslaved Zuko and the others?" Sokka asked. "Is it permanent?"

"Let me finish," Nekka said, scared by her own assertiveness. "Body swapping is alluded to quite heavily many times in some old texts. It's theorized there are different ways to go about it, but the Mi-Go had mastered a particular way. Perhaps Cthulhu has used it on the Fire Lord and the others?"

"Could be," Sokka said. "Will the Necronomicon tell us how to reverse it?"

"I don't know," she said.

"I hope so, because these weird dreams of mine aren't really telling me much."

Nekka bobbed her head, working herself up to say something. Sokka held his hand up for Azula to be still. "You started having these dreams after you were attacked by the Old One?" Nekka asked. "Maybe you weren't being attacked, exactly."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, one batch of crazy at a time. Back to the Mi-Go and this mind swapping stuff. How do they do it? Is it like a spirit-thing or do they literally shuffle people's brains around?"

"I don't know," said Nekka, twisting her hands. "I suspect the complete Necronomicon will have plenty to say on the subject, given what's mentioned in the fragments I've seen."

Azula covered a silent yawn with her hand, despite her mouth being behind a scarf. "In short, we won't know anything until we have that book. And, since you're not sleeping and I prefer to rest in the daylight, you and Sokka can keep watch."

She retired to the flapping tent, leaving Sokka alone with Nekka.

His ear ached and itched which he supposed was a good sign, but now he had ominous things to ponder for long hours. It must have shown on his face.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more," Nekka said.

"What were you saying about the Old One not really attacking me?"

She bobbed her head again, working into a lather what she was going to say before she began. "The Mi-Go are masters of body exchange, but they're not the only ones who can do it. Had the Old One wanted to hurt you it would likely have done something more conventional, but instead you were put into a coma for two weeks without a mark on you, correct? Then you began dreaming of things you had never experienced before."

"Right, so you're saying it tried to take my mind and got stuck in there? Like the shoggoth did to Azula?"

"Not exactly," said Nekka. "I don't know what it did to you, or why, but you should know it's not likely the Old Ones are serving Cthulhu willingly, and they might not be entirely loyal to him."

"So, you think it might have been trying to help me? Pfft. Some help. I can't make sense of these stupid dreams even when I can remember them."

Nekka was still twisting in her uncertainty, but he could see her eyes darting, reflecting her churning thoughts. "Perhaps...perhaps you could try meditating? People like Al-Hazred claimed they learned much of what they wrote through meditation. Under the right conditions it let them talk to certain beings...maybe you could use it to remember your dreams."

"Like, what kind of conditions?"

"None I'd recommend you try, but the desert is a very spiritual place on its own, maybe doing it the normal way will be enough?"

"Alright, I'll give it a shot. Just make sure you keep an eye on the skies and be ready to make a lot of noise if you see anything that isn't a buzzard wasp. Actually, yell if you see buzzard wasps, too."

He took a blanket to the top of the rock formation and sat upon it. Sokka had never been one for meditating, much to Piandao's chagrin, but he was determined now to do it properly, come what may.

One could never truly clear their mind; this he had learned from Piandao. Meditation was not about making the mind blank and free of thoughts, but about focusing on where those thoughts came from. To do that, he simply had to relax and close his eyes, imagine himself stepping back from his body to watch images, sounds, and vaporous impressions float up from the dark void of his sub-conscience.

"Where do thoughts come from?" Piandao had asked him one day as they sat in the stone garden behind his villa.

"Uh, our heads?" Sokka had replied.

"Where are they before they spring into our heads?"

"I don't know, our minds kind of make them, I guess."

"Where does it make them? Where are the raw materials stored an assembled?"

He did not know, and said as much. Piandao did not profess any secret knowledge on the matter, but he had made Sokka aware of how his mind was layered. The waking part of himself, what he considered his entire mind, was the open area atop a vast, impenetrable darkness, the soil where his mind had taken root.

It was to the blackness that he turned his attention as the sun over the Si Wong Desert pressed down on him. He felt the wind carrying the sand from a million dunes blow across his shoulder and could see the dark field before him, his mind shining at the edges of its horizon.

_There was the pain in his ear, Suki, Suzi, Azula, Aang, monsters attacking him, Wan Shi Tong attacking him, Nekka, June, Chief Arnook, the sand in his boots, the cold night, the cold ocean, the night, the moon, Yue, moonless nights, the deep ocean, the gulf of space. _

The gulf of space. From earth, it looked thick with the stars but the truth was the space between those points of light was in essence an infinity, at least to those who did not know the secrets of how the world was bonded together. Sokka had gone through these gulfs before, in a body that knew those secrets. It was like falling. Distances that were long could be made short, then traversed. Speed had nothing to do with it. Where were these thoughts coming from? He pressed against the darkness like it was a blanket over water. It yielded and he pushed harder. Now there was resistance. More resistance. He slipped and was shot backward.

"Ugh!" he opened his eyes as if waking. He was back under the sun, in the sand. There was something behind him, but when he turned he saw nothing but windblown dunes rolling outward and on forever. He closed his eyes again and it was like his sweat-soaked skin was sliding into a giant glove.

Sokka saw himself sitting on the blanket atop the sand-covered rock. Behind him was something like an upright sea cucumber, barrel-shaped with a starfish head. He was back in his own body again, looking out of his own two eyes. Something was still behind him.

The sweat that poured down his face was cold. Slowly, he turned around and looked up. There it stood, it's tube-body bent forward, all five of its tooth-lined starfish arms bent forward to glare at him, giving it the aspect of a squid. From seams in its body, white tentacles uncoiled and twirled listlessly around. Some thick and sucker coated, some tipped with boney blades, others small like baby vines.

-What are you?- Sokka asked.

There was a piping noise in his mind, as if the wind were blowing a reed flute in time with a song. -A thought.-

The words were in his own voice.

-I don't have thoughts like you.-

-Still.-

-What do you want?-

-For you to succeed.-

-How? How do we beat Cthulhu?-

The piping became dissonant, and Sokka felt his head swell, threatening to burst.

-Only hinder...he wishes the power...to bend all things...to bind and bond...like Avatar...-

-Bending doesn't work like that," Sokka thought, now in immense pain. -He's wasting his time.-

-No. You must thwart him...otherwise he will bind, absorb Azathoth..."

-How do we stop him!?- Sokka felt bile churning in his stomach, pain vibrating from his head down.

-Necronomicon...his forces are scattered...moves against you even now.-

-Do you know how to stop him? What's in that book?-

-Your language. Too crude. Your thoughts...-

Sokka let out a soundless howl of frustration. The pain was crippling, different than any sensation he had experienced. -Tell me!- All the answers were there, right before him! Why could it not speak plainly, why was he in such pain?

-I am a thought.-

-Yeah, you're...-

A gust of wind blew sand into Sokka's face and he sputtered. When he opened hid eyes, the Old One was gone and he was covered in his own stinking vomit. He was no longer in pain, but the memory of it was enough to make him fall backward onto the hot sand. There he took deep breaths in through his mouth, letting them out his nose. He needed water.

-888-

The sun was low in the sky and already the sands were giving back the heat absorbed during the long daylight hours. They had broken camp and their bellies were full of Sokka's cooking, which was not sitting well with him. He wore his light tunic, being used to the cold, while Azula had donned her heavy coat and left the front open and the hood down. "I thought you could use your bending to keep you warm?" he asked as she was about to climb into Appa's saddle.

"It's a waste of energy when I have a fur coat, dummy," she said.

"Come over here a minute, I need to talk to you."

Nekka was with June, using Hoplo's journal to refresh Nyla's scent memory. According to June's map, Nyla was leading them to the region Sokka had specified, something he was pleased to hear.

Azula stepped off Appa's flat tail, causing he bison to grunt.

"What is it?" she asked.

He told her about his meditating and experience with the Old One, feeling better about it as he spoke. As expected, she understood completely. "They can infect our minds like diseases," she said. "You got the Old One the same way I got the shoggoth. I'd probably have my mind eaten if I tried to contact it like you did."

"Shhh," he said, looking to see Nekka was petting Nyla while June climbed up on his back. "I'll run it by Nekka later, but June can't know I'm seeing things."

"Afraid she'll decide we're crazy and take off?" Azula asked. "No matter. Once we have the library, she'll be useless to us."

"Ugh. Give that stuff a rest, will ya? Come on, let's just go."

Nekka came running over as Azula climbed into Appa's saddle while Sokka double-check their camp to make sure everything was packed. "I'm going to ride with June if that's okay?" she said.

"Uh, yeah, whatever you want," he said. "Just don't weird her out, okay?"

Nekka gave a quick nod and darted back to Nyla.

Sokka assumed his position on Appa, and jostled the reins. "Yip-yip!" The bison grunted and rose into the gloaming sky.

"Why is she not coming with us?" Azula asked, leaning over the front of Appa's saddle. "What's the meaning of this?"

"That's what being mean to people gets you," he said. "You're a princess in name only, nobody has to listen to you."

He had been harsher than he had intended to be, and he awaited a retort but none came. When they were in the air cruising through the sharp wind, Sokka had to pay careful attention on the ground so he did not lose Nyla against the black, starlit dunes. He chanced a glance back at Azula, who was keeping a sour lookout for flying attackers.

Should he apologize? No, he had been right. Another setback, he supposed, nothing he could do anything about now without making it worse. Sokka tried to ponder what the Old One had told him, about Cthulhu needing the Avatar to absorb Azathoth, or had it been bond with Azathoth? What that had to do with the Avatar, he had no clue. He had often heard Aang complain that much of the Avatar lore had been lost in the one-hundred years he spent frozen in a block of ice, but back then it seemed like little more than an annoyance for sages and scholars.

The wind whipped his face; he tried to keep his mind on the sensation, and the feel of Appa's warm fur under him. They let him recall better days quite vividly, but part of him knew those days only seemed bright and carefree because he had survived them, they all had. Whether they would live again was another story, and that fact soured his mood. He looked back and saw Azula sitting calmly, neither sour nor anything else, lost in thought and watching the starry sky for black silhouettes.

The mind was a playground, a place anything could happen with no consequences. Unable to piece together the puzzle of Cthulhu and the Avatar, he set it aside and wondered about himself and Azula. As nebulous and strange as the idea was, it was calming, and since no one could see or hear his thoughts, he let himself enjoy them.

-888-

"I spy with my little eye, something that begins with S."

"If it's sand dune, sand, sky, or saddle,, I'm going to spy something that begins with B. I'll give you some clues, burned, bruised, beaten..."

"I'm not sure that's how you play the game," said Sokka, yawning. He had already spied Nyla, Nekka, June, and Appa. "And hey, at least I haven't spied something that begins with 'Aah!' as in, 'Ah, it's those flying monsters!'"

"This is the worst traveling game I've ever played," said Azula. She was directly behind him, sitting on the edge of the saddle. "This can't be how you peasants entertain each other while migrating."

"One, we don't migrate. Most of us. Two, normally we don't play this game in an endless desert."

"I'm starting to hope we do see some star-spawn, soon," she said. "That's how boring you are."

"Oh, I'm boring am I? Try having an annoying princess who won't leave you alone. Ow!" She had punched him in the arm. "I'm flyin' a bison here! What happened, did you run out of rocks to throw at me?"

"Yes, and the bison is perfectly capable of flying itself while I thrash you," she said.

The sun was rising like an angry buzzard wasp, beating its hot wings over the sand which drank up and spit back the heat. Rest would have to come soon, he could hear Appa breathing through his mouth making him seem like a giant furnace.

He was watching for June's signal when Azula grabbed his shoulder. "I spy something that begins with L," she said, pointing to vertical lines squiggling in the sun-cooked haze.

The stone domes and spires of the Great Library of Wan Shi Tong sat in a crater of sand, the top of which was ringed with poles and tan canvasses to keep the sand from taking the building back. Sokka pulled up on Appa's reins to make him fly higher so he could see over the hole, but there was nothing to explain the massive excavation. The wind-blasted canvass shield had not been put up recently, but Sokka was not a man of the dunes and could not say how long it had been holding back the desert, only that it had failed in some places and let the sand in.

Nyla charged to the crater, and crashed through the canvass wall to slide down and stop before the library's ornate steps. Appa circled the building, and Sokka took a close look at the tallest spire, the one he and his friends had first entered the library from when it was all buried in sand. The topmost window was dark and Sokka could feel the emptiness inside pull at him like a vacuum.

"This is weird," announced Sokka, as Appa landed. June and Nekka had climbed down from Nyla, and all were glad for the small shade the crater and library provided.

"I'm gonna guess this is it?" said June.

"Age certainly hasn't dulled your bounty hunter deductive powers," said Azula.

"Oops, she meant to say, nice work, and thank you very, very much," said Sokka, putting himself between the two. "How much of a bonus would you need to come inside with us?"

"I'll stay out here and watch your bison for free, but only because the sun is about to come up and there's no way Nyla is running in this heat," said June. "I'm not going to wait up for you, though."

"Fair enough. Thanks for your help, June," Sokka said, shaking her hand. June nodded politely to Nekka and made a rude gesture at Azula, who returned it.

"Hope you lovebirds find your book," June said.

"Let's go," said Sokka. "We don't have time to mess around, remember? Nekka, you got Hoplo's journal?"

Nekka held it up, and Sokka took it. "I'm the one who more or less made the owl spirit mad last time, I think it's best I try to be the one who patches things up. Who knows, maybe the library being uncovered means he's in a better mood."

"Who uncovered it?" Azula asked, not expecting an answer.

"Ah, that's a good question," Sokka said. "Saved us a lot of work whoever they were."

"I don't like this," Azula said.

He looked around briefly for clues, but saw none. There were no signs of leftover or broken tools, no footprints, nothing to indicate who had dug the massive building out of the sand, or how. It had to have been sandbenders, or Wan Shi Tong himself. Perhaps the severe old owl had undergone a change of heart, or merely realized his knowledge gatherers, the tiny jackal spirits, had no way of getting in with the library completely buried.

"I don't like it either," he said, looking up at the ornate, stone columns.

The proper entrance to the library was a set of double stone doors that inched open with little effort. The stale, paper air had a thickness to it, but it was cool and therefore welcome. The building had been built to channel and reflect light from outside, leaving the shelves of scrolls and furniture cast in perpetual gloom. There were no sconces or torches lit, so Azula conjured a bright, blue flame from her hand.

Sokka's legs wobbled when he saw the tipped shelves, the scattered and torn scrolls, the broken tables and benches. Nekka staggered around in breathless horror, Azula cursed, and Sokka took a closer look at the damage. The scrolls were all unfurled, and many had been scratched and torn, but to him it had the look of simple rough treatment, not an act of deliberate destruction.

"I don't suppose it was like this the last time you were here?" Azula asked, bending over something on the floor.

"No," said Sokka, wincing at the dead jackal she had found. It had died a violent death, but it showed no sign of rot and appeared bloodless. "That's one of the librarian's spirit helpers. Oh, man this is bad."

Azula stood upright and lit a wall sconce. "This happened recently," she said. "There's no dust on the scrolls, and this helper-thing seems fresh. The only question that matters is did they get what they were looking for?"

"Are they still here might be a better question," said Sokka.

"Of course they are," Azula said, looking around at the deep recess created by toppled shelves. The main hall was at least a hundred feet high, with two mezzanines all holding book and scroll shelves. "I can feel them, can't you?"

Without jackal spirits running to and fro, the Great Library of Wan Shi Tong was still as a tomb. He strained his ears for any noise at all, but beyond Nekka's quiet feet and the blood in his own ears there was almost nothing.

"Do you hear that?" he asked, thinking his mind had to be playing a trick.

"I don't hear anything. I don't need to. I can tell they're here."

It was impossible what he heard. It made no sense. "Nekka," he said, and she stopped moving. He listened and could hear his own living body, the wind against the thick stone outside, and violin music. "Forget it, it's nothing," he said.

"Don't count on it. Now, where's this librarian you were so worried about appeasing? How do we summon him?"

"He should have shown up already," said Sokka. "Maybe he's dead."

"Spirits are almost impossible to truly kill, but they can be weakened or diminished," said Nekka, moving quickly out of the gloom to stand near him.

"Look for a diminished owl, then."

Sokka moved between piles of scrolls and books, trying and failing to keep from stepping on them. He was looking for something long, almost serpentine in shape with a round white face. Wan Shi Tong had been massive, larger than Appa, but who knew what form he had taken on if what Nekka said was accurate?

Each crinkle of paper was a crescendo in the silent, musty air. He saw that they had foolishly let themselves be spread thin. Nekka stood between two tipped bookshelves rolling up a scroll, while Azula had gone farther on. She held a small blue flame close to her chest, rightly believing she stood in the center of an inferno awaiting the slightest accident.

-If we get attacked, this place is going up in smoke,- he thought.

"If we were going to be ambushed they would have attacked by now, don't you think?" Sokka said, after walking over to Azula. She looked as if she had realized the danger her bending posed, but was not as concerned as he wanted her to be.

"We keep defeating them, perhaps they've gotten smart," she said. "Or they fear what I could do in a place like this."

"I think we're all afraid of that. Come on, there's nothing here. Let's go down that hallway."

He called Nekka over and the three of them went down the long, stone corridor. The library was laid out for ease of navigation and as they went along the passage and through antechambers, Azula stopped to light the small wall sconces and reading lanterns.

Everywhere they went had been ransacked; no scroll or book had been left untouched. Many had been ripped in the same fashion as the ones in the main hall, and there was no end to Nekka's groaning. "None of them look like they've been shredded, so maybe we can come back later and straighten the place out," Sokka said.

They walked for half an hour before Sokka found a map of the library hung in an alcove and took it down. Once he identified where they were, he led them on a systematic walk through the first floor. They found more turned over shelves, torn scrolls, bent and ripped books, and a few dead knowledge seekers.

The sensation of being watched never left them and Azula became visibly anxious, as if she expected an ambush at every juncture, room, and alcove. Sokka, too, began to feel as though they were merely wandering around looking for a fight.

Sokka consulted the map when the halls and tipped shelves began to look familiar. They were heading for the calendar room, a place he had been looking forward to seeing again. He stopped before the door, and turned to his companions. "I hope they didn't wreck this place up too bad, it's pretty awesome. After we check it, we'll head down to the sub-levels. If we don't find creepy monsters there, we won't find any."

The floor of the calendar room was a sheet of glass, under which could be seen hundreds of gears, dials, and rods. The walls and ceiling were a half sphere where brass hoops fitted with crystals, circles of jade, marble, and many other beautiful materials could be turned. The baubles represented stars, planets, and comets which would move when a dial at center of the room was adjusted.

The room was intact and he stood before the dial, examining it.

"Is something the matter? The place looks in order," asked Azula.

"Eh, nothing I guess. It's just that the last time I was here, I used this place to figure out what happened on the so-called Fire Nation's Darkest Day. The Day of Black Sun, remember it? It looks like it got moved since then."

"Perhaps your bird spirit fiddled with it," she said.

"Yeah, maybe. Or that weird professor."

"It's been set to the vernal equinox," said Nekka. "That's when the length of the day and night will be the same." She was looking up now. "This is amazing! If accurate, and I'm sure it is, one could plant crops better, follow seal and whale migrations, or determine the dates of historical events."

"You could find out when the stars are right," said Azula, narrowing her eyes at the false heavens.

Sokka had not been much of a stargazer, but his years of navigating small boats and Appa had given him a knowledge of the major constellations and a passing familiarity with some of the smaller ones. Something was off about the sky he was now looking at. "Vernal equinox," he said. "Sounds creepy."

"It's not creepy," said Nekka. "The equinox happens twice a year. It's when the day is the same duration as night. Yin and Yang are equal before one yields to the other. It's said to be a time when rivals come together to find common ground."

Azula and Sokka both snorted in unison.

"It's also said to be a time when the barrier between worlds is thinnest," said Nekka, quieter

"Barrier? What are you talking about?" asked Azula.

Nekka hesitated until Sokka gave her a nod. "It's a well-known theory that the spirit world occupies the same space as this one, it's just separate somehow," said Nekka, holding her hands flat, then locking her fingers together. "But in my area of research there's more than just the spirit world. We have the same theory, that all worlds occupy the same space so to speak, but are separate somehow. Most writers characterize the separating mechanism as a barrier and it's supposed to be thinnest at the equinoxes."

"Good to know," said Azula, sounding unimpressed. "And we've had how many equinoxes since Cthulhu has been around?"

"Let's just make a note of this and move on," said Sokka. "Maybe if we find Professor Zei down here he can tell us something."

"Who?"

"He's an archeologist from Ba Sing Se. He's how we found this place to begin with. When Wan Shi Tong got all mad and sunk the place, he decided to stay behind."

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but he's probably a corpse," said Azula.

"We won't know until we find him," said Sokka, annoyed. "Come on, let's get going."

The map directed them to a flight of stairs that took them down to a place where the hallways were tighter. They found small, portable lanterns that still had oil which Azula lit for Sokka and Nekka to carry.

After a short distance, Sokka bid them to stop having spied something something he sorely missed from life in the Fire Nation. "Hold up," he said, walking over to an opening in the wall that led down a short passage, which veered off to the right. "Nature calls, ladies, and I've had enough of pooping in the desert."

Azula made a disgusted sound as Nekka pointed out a restroom for women down the hall and on the other side.

The men's restroom was surprisingly well-lit from mirrors set in the high ceiling and to his immense joy he found wiping paper in one of the stalls. It was old, but it served, and there was even a wash basin that pumped lukewarm water through a brass spout with the turn of a dial.

His washing reverie was interrupted by a scream, which became curses and threats. Sokka ran to the women's restroom, pausing for a moment on seeing the sign marked "Women," before entering, boomerang at the ready.

Azula stood over the cringing form of a man, both hands blazing with blue fire while Nekka cowered behind her. "Start talking, fish-man, or I'll pan sear you!"

The man wore ratty clothing, and seemed more dust than skin. His eyes, while wide with fear, held nothing of the Outer-Maw look.

"Professor Zei?" Sokka said, urging Azula to lower her flames.

The professor looked up at him, his face stretching for recognition. He was thin and pale, but not unhealthily so, and his clothes were the sort of disheveled that came from long, but not hard usage. The scratches he bore on his hands, and the bags beneath his eyes seemed more recent.

"Y-you...it's you, from before! The Avatar is here!" Zei said.

Sokka helped him to his feet. "Ah, afraid not; it's just me and these two. Listen, Professor Zei, it's a long, long story, but I need to know what happened here. Where's the Necronomicon?"

Zei shoved him so abruptly, Sokka fell backward and landed on his rear. He hit the ground a moment before Zei did, the professor's legs having been kicked out from under him by Azula who put her foot on his chest and prepared to lance him with a narrow jet of fire.

"Bad move, creep!" she shouted.

"You won't get it! You won't trick me! I'll die first!" He writhed under Azula's foot, but could not escape.

Sokka got to his feet and went to Zei, holding him down and gently pushing Azula off him. "Keep an eye on the door," he told her, and she reluctantly obeyed. "Stop. Professor, stop! Fine, you don't have to tell us where the book is, just tell me what happened here, okay?"

The professor still struggled and Sokka strained to hold him before deciding to let him up. Zei scurried to one of the stalls where he sequestered himself like a frightened mouse. "I won't be tricked! Your ransacking, your desecration, didn't work and neither will pathetic disguises."

"When you're done fooling around with him say the word and I'll make him talk," said Azula.

"Professor, please, it's me, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. We met three years ago when we found this place. It was me who used the library to find out the Fire Nation's weakness, which angered Wan Shi Tong and caused him to bury this place. We're here because we think Cthulhu has kidnapped the Avatar and we need the Necronomicon to get him back."

"Cthulhu?" Zei's eyes were wide in the shadow of the stall.

"Enough!" shouted Azula. "Tell us what we want to know or suffer the consequences!" Both her hands were in flames and Sokka moved to stand between her and Professor Zei.

"Azula, that's enough. Professor Zei, please..."

It was Nekka's turn to stand before Zei. She extended her hand, as if to a stray cat. "Professor? My name is Nekka, of the Northern Water Tribe. I studied under Sifu Misso and I've read several of your books."

"Misso," said Zei. "It's been years...how is he?"

Sokka cringed, but Nekka seemed to suffer no great shock. She bowed he head and spoke softly. "He's gone. He was murdered by a cult that worships Cthulhu, the entity described in the Pnakotic Fragments and in the writings of Al-Hazred." She held up Hoplo's journal. "This belonged to my ancestor, Hoplo. You're of course familiar with the name. His journal was recovered at the south pole, by these two. They corroborate stories about the Old Ones and shoggoths."

Trembling, Zei stepped out of the stall and examined the journal. "Lies tend to be simple. You're story is quite convoluted. Let's say I believe you, what do you hope to accomplish with the Necronomicon?"

Azula stifled a howl of rage between her teeth and Sokka had to calm her down. "We don't know," he said. "We won't know that until we've read it. I'm hoping it's got a drawing of Cthulhu and a little X where to hit him, but we'll take what we can get."

Zei stroked his chin, his fear giving way to the same spark Sokka had seen in Nekka's eyes when she talked about odd things. "I doubt it has anything like that, but if what Al-Hazred wrote was more than fiction then perhaps it would be useful."

"I don't suppose you've read it?" Sokka asked.

"Oh my, no," said Professor Zei. "Wan Shi Tong keeps that particular book strictly off limits, which is saying something given what else he leaves lying around here. I was intrigued, but not surprised, to learn he had a complete copy of the Necronomicon, but the tome never interested me."

"Off limits, huh? Professor, can you tell us what happened here? Who, or what, tore this place apart?"

"And are they still here?" asked Azula.

Zei trembled, but composed himself. "We didn't notice the digging until it was too late. How they unearthed the library so quickly I haven't a clue, but once it was done they tore through here like nothing I've ever seen. I didn't get a good look at them, Wan Shi Tong suggested I hide as best I could and that's what I did. There were dozens and dozens of them. All I remember seeing was claws, massive ones, and a man's voice shouting at them in some strange language.

"What did Wan Shi Tong do during all this?" Sokka asked, some of Zei's own paranoia and mistrust having taken root in him.

"He fought, of course, but two things became clear very quickly. The first was the battle would lead to the destruction of countless scrolls and valuable tomes. The second was the attackers sought only one thing, the Necronomicon. I've been busy hiding, leaving only to secure food, but I'm fairly certain Wan Shi Tong retreated in order to guard the Forbidden Room where the Necronomicon is kept."

"Do you know if the monster's are still here?" Sokka asked.

"I didn't hear them leave," said Zei.

"We know they're here," Azula said. "The only question is have they secured the book or not, and if so, are they planning an ambush for us?"

"Can you take us to this room?" asked Sokka.

"I can get you close, but just the two of you..."

"Will be more than enough," said Azula.

Zei looked between the three of them as he chewed his lip. "Very well. Come with me, I'll take you as far as I dare go."

They learned that Zei had not been able to survey much of the damage to the library's books and scrolls. When he saw what had been done to the vast collection of knowledge they had to stop while he wailed and moaned and tried to set a ruined bookshelf back in order. Sokka explained to him most of the books and papers had merely been scattered; this got the scholar moving again but did little to quiet him.

When they came to a large reading room, Zei bent over a dead knowledge seeker. Grieved beyond words, he picked it up and set it upon a table.

"Professor Zei..." Sokka said, getting ready to have him point out where the Forbidden Room was on the map if he could not go farther. Zei looked up from the knowledge seeker, his face set in anger.

"We're here. In that alcove over there is a stairwell that will take you down to the Forbidden Room. I'm coming with you." He took a tall candlestick to wield like a pole arm and Sokka could see there was nothing he could say to dissuade the man from coming further.

Inspired, Nekka bent the water from one of her water skins and promptly spilled it on the floor. Azula sighed as she ignited both her hands and led the way into the dark alcove.

There was no door to the stairwell and it was wider than Sokka had expected. Azula's fire cast the walls in blue and she lit sconces on the way down which burned orange on their own. He had considered telling her they should try to be sneaky, but did not bother. Their enemies knew they were coming.

At the bottom of the stairs Azula's blue light peeled back the darkness inside a massive, square chamber and was reflected in dozens upon dozens of black, round eyes. Long, white claws attached to shovel-like hands took a blue hue as they clacked together. The creatures were short and round with loose, gray skin that hung off them to form bag-like crevasses. They had no heads, just black orbs set into their round bodies above a seam that Sokka could see concealed ropey, white tentacles.

They all stood before a giant, black door that absorbed the light in the room, making it seem more like empty space than a barrier. Out from the shadows behind the monsters shuffled a hunched form wearing filthy, gray robes. Sokka braced himself against seeing its face, but it kept its hood up and features concealed. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" the priest gargled. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

It pointed at them with some strange appendage from under its sleeve that defied any earthly analogy, save perhaps a diseased tree branch. "The Red Star is on the horizon! The barrier becomes thin. R'lyeh will lie sunken no more and mighty Cthulhu will walk free! You will be ground into nothing! Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!" the priest shouted.

Azula conjured a round ball of blue lightning which floated in front of her a moment before he tapped it into the air then jumped to slap it like a kuai ball. It sailed over the inhuman priest's head where it exploded. The attack did more to cause panic than death, and Sokka shouted for them all to retreat farther up the stairs, counting on the higher elevation and narrower space to dampen the advantage of the monster's numbers.

There were over a score of the stocky, densely built creatures. They moved fast, the ones in the front opening their seams to lash out with a nest of white tentacles that sought to grab and pull towards their claws. Azula fired a powerful bolt of lightning into the center of one and it exploded, sending sloughs of skin and burnt goop all over.

The priest shouted something and the tentacles withdrew, leaving the creatures to come toward them solely with their claws. Azula's lightning had less an effect now, but it still worked to slow them down.

"Get out of here!" Sokka shouted. "Go, find June! We'll hold them off."

Nekka and Zei did as they were told, while Sokka darted forward with his boomerang, dodging swiping claws to take pecking strikes at the spots between black orb eyes.

Even when gravely wounded the things were making their way up the stairs, goaded onward by the priest who stood behind them. "Cut off the head and the body dies," shouted Azula, leaping over the monsters, using them like stepping stones in a river to reach the priest.

"Azula, no!" he shouted, seeing her knocked out of the air and go under the sea of gray bodies.

Sokka pulled the same stunt she had, his feet going from one creature to the next. He got just as far as Azula had, just with less grace, and yet before he went down he hurled his boomerang at the priest and saw it strike him under the hood with a satisfying, wet _thunk._

Sokka landed hard and knew his only chance would be to keep moving. He was being dealt savage blows by sharp claws and he felt his back become warm and wet. -Blood,- he thought. -What a way to go.-

While painful and bloody, the blows were not well-aimed and none of his vitals or spine took hard shots. Sokka kept his head covered by his hands and ran towards the fire and lightning he saw through the mass of bodies. Somehow he came out on the other side, torn, bruised, and bleeding. Azula was next to him, her hair matted in blood and hanging in front of her face. Her lightning blasts were becoming weaker, the creatures coming closer. Azula created a wall of fire before them, but the things walked right through it, heedless of the searing their saggy-skinned bodies took in braving the barrier.

Sokka looked to the stairs and knew he and Azula would be freshly dead by the time June came with Nyla, who was large but narrow enough to fit through the library's passages. -No, I hope she doesn't come,- he thought. -Let Nekka and Zei get away and tell the world what's happening-

When the fire and lightning stopped, he reached out and grabbed Azula's hand. He felt her squeeze him back and was about to look at her when he saw movement by the stairs.

He thought they were dogs at first, then knowledge seekers, but when they began to gibber and yip he realized they were something else entirely. Their calls gave the surging monsters pause, and as the sound became all Sokka could hear, he saw the stairwell was clogged with the weird, loping creatures. They came down it like running water and splashed against the rear guard of the star-spawn.

Sokka tried to make out more of the new creatures, for they had a humanoid aspect to them he found most disturbing. He was distracted, however , by the closest of the star-spawn who had resumed their forward march.

Azula experienced a short-lived burst of energy which she used to send chain lightning along the row of oncoming monsters. The one she hit directly went down, but the others continued forward. She collapsed to her knees alongside Sokka, who was now dizzy from blood loss. "Aw, man. Hey. Sorry I got us killed," he said.

"When we get to the afterlife, start running," Azula said, taking his hand once more.

He laughed, thinking she would likely still have a grip on him when they got there, but his dizzy mirth was short-lived when the black door behind them moved.

A long, dark shape dove over them into the mass of star-spawn. It turned almost like a feathered serpent and Sokka saw the round, white face and angry black eyes directing a tearing, ripping beak.

"Wan Shi Tong!" he shouted, and almost passed out.

Alone, the owl spirit might have had a hard time defeating the star-spawn, for their instinct when he attacked was to cover themselves with their claws and hunker down. With the smaller creatures harrying them, however, Wan Shi Tong was landing killing blows as he swirled about the room like a hot, night wind.

Sokka's jubilation was tempered by his wounds and he looked to see Azula was in as rough a shape as he was. He kept still and watched the battle play out. Wall sconces had been lit, perhaps by Wan Shi Tong, and he could see the strange new creatures held both human and jackal aspects. They were almost skeletal, their skins either pale or a sickly yellow but they moved and bit and clawed with alarming vigor. Many had been broken by the star-spawn's claws, but those creatures were slowly dwindling under the combined onslaught of the owl spirit and skeletal dog-men.

When the last star-spawn were dead along with their priest, Wan Shi Tong wasted no time in blowing over to tower above Sokka and Azula. "Wait, hang on a second," Sokka said, holding up a bloody-smeared hand.

"I will not slay you," said the spirit, bending down to bring his white face directly over Sokka where it hung like the burning sun. "But if you should die, that is of no consequence to me."

The spirit's attitude did not bode well for their mission, he noted, but his impending doom was a real possibility if he did not get help soon, same for Azula. When he saw the dog-like things going up the stairs, he waited, then collapsed when he saw Nekka coming down.

He must have passed out, for he did not remember how he got up the stairs and to the reading room.

"Oh, you're both hurt bad," Nekka exclaimed.

Sokka lay on a table while Azula had been set in a chair. "See to him first," she said. "He's hurt badly, and I'm stronger besides."

"I'm fine," Sokka lied. "It's mostly scratches. Nekka, help her."

"Keep away from me, oaf. Make your mistakes on him first," hissed Azula, who slumped further down in the chair.

"I can help you both stop bleeding," said Nekka. "Oh no, I need more bandages!"

"Then go get them!" Azula shouted, and Nekka ran.

"What were those things?" Sokka asked, feeling himself fading out again.

"I assume you mean the newcomers? Friends of the owl, I thought."

"They didn't look like it," Sokka said. "Be honest, how bad are you hurt?"

"I need stitches," Azula said. "As do you, but I'm not letting her touch me until she's proven herself."

Sokka picked his head up to find Zei, but a wave of dizziness sent him back under.

-888-

"I learned a lot about sewing up wounds when Nyla was younger. He'd get a little over-eager with bounties, you see," said June, who had been summoned into the library.

They were still in the reading room. Zei had brought in two large water basins and used skins and a nearby restroom to fill them. A paper screen had been erected between Sokka and Azula, who both lay on tables. June worked on her, while Nekka and Zei assisted Sokka. The dressing had not been painless by any means, but neither patient argued with the need to clean their wounds. The salve used on Sokka's ear before was all but spent on them both now and Nekka did what she could with her water healing.

When it was over, Sokka and Azula were given fresh blankets and the screen between them was removed. "I will plead your case before Wan Shi Tong," said Zei. "If Miss Nekka will accompany me, perhaps we can persuade him to assist you, but you know how he can be."

Azula protested, but Sokka thought this the best course of action given the friendliest the spirit had been to him lately was allowing him to bleed out on his own. June went with the scholars down the stairs, leaving Sokka alone in the big room with Azula.

"Well, that was close," he said. "I don't think I ever got hurt this bad during the war."

"I underestimated them. Luckily those other things showed up when they did. You say they're not the owl's servants?"

"I don't think so," said Sokka. "We can ask Nekka or Zei when they get back."

"Do you think those spineless bookworms will be able to sway the spirit?"

"I don't think we're going to force him into anything, spines or no spines, so let's hope so."

He looked over at her as she stared at the ceiling. His hand closed on itself, remembering the heat and pressure from hers.

**To be continued...**


End file.
